


The World I Thought I Knew

by Nikkimoon25



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angelic Possession, Demonic Possession, M/M, Memory Loss, Not Beta Read, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 41,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28314267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikkimoon25/pseuds/Nikkimoon25
Summary: The war between the Archangel Michael and Lucifer over ruling Earth's plain has been fought for thousands of years. It has been written in the stars that one day a final battle will commence which will end it all.Alec Lightwood thought he was normal. Just a normal mundane going home to study his local town history. Little did he know he is tied to the biggest battle in supernatural history.
Relationships: Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Max Lightwood & Madzie, Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood
Comments: 18
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Good morning and Merry Christmas everyone! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this little Christmas present I have for you all! This is a prequel to something that I have been working on and I hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> Please be patient. I am going to upload more of this when I have finished writing it.

Silence surrounded the town as bodies made up of demons and humans littered the floor. There was blood splattered everywhere, the red sky slowly dying out, being replaced with the soft orange and blues of dawn. A new day, a new beginning in Alicante. Alexander Gideon Lightwood stood in the middle of the town square surrounded by those bodies, a glowing blade in his hand slowly dimming from being used. His power was draining. He was exhausted. Digging into his pockets, he pulled out a long pen-shaped device. His stele, the enhancer of his angel-given powers. He dragged his stele across his hip over a black swirled tattoo. His iratze rune glowed as he felt cuts across his body begin to heal and energy begin to flow through his body again. Taking a deep cleansing breath, he glanced at the scene in front of him. He saw his fellow nephilim and family all doing the same thing as he had. The fight had been arduous and enduring, lasting for days. He was still mentally and physically exhausted, despite his new bout of energy given to him from the angels. 

“You fought valiantly young nephilim.” A deep majestic voice came from inside his head. 

Alec scoffed “Well I can’t say that I did a lot of the work” He answered putting his blade away in it’s sheath. 

“You did more than enough. You gave me the power to defeat Lucifer’s army once again. You are strong young one.” The voice answered

“For good right?” Alec asked. 

The voice sighed. “We can not say for sure. Lucifer has been trying to take over this plain for thousands of years. It was hundreds of years ago since the last time he tried.”

“So you don’t think he will return?”

“Not in your lifetime.” The voice answered “But now that your service to the angels is complete, you need to make your choice. The moment has come for your decision. You know the risks if you agree?” 

Alec looked around him. This was his life as he knew it. He had his work and more importantly to him, his family and friends. He was a nephilim. From a young age, he fought demons every day and despite the love of the job, he lived in fear. He knew his importance in the world but he hated living in fear that one day he could die suddenly from an attack gone wrong or from the wrong person finding out who he truly was. It was a lot for someone at the young age of 18 to comprehend. He hated the fact that he had killed so many of his colleagues. The images of his blade and arrows from his archer’s bow killing people he once knew who had become corrupted plagued him. In his mind, he was a monster who had killed, nothing more. He had been trained to kill from a young age but never how to deal with it. He hadn’t slept well for days after finding out his true purpose for being alive. He couldn’t live with it and yet, this voice in his head had all of the answers he had craved for. His parents had told him that it was a gift but Alec saw it as nothing more than a curse.

But was he so willing to give it all up in exchange for getting rid of these horrific memories and knowledge that kept him up at night? The blood? The killings? The wondering of when he would receive his true calling? He would finally be able to live his life in peace. He would never have to fight again if he so wished. 

He took one more look around at his family. His brother being healed by his girlfriend, his sister being helped up by her vampire boyfriend, his Mother and Father reconciling hand in hand. He knew they would be okay. Would he be able to see them again? He really hoped so. But he couldn’t live with the person that he had become. Who he had to be to fight the things that go bump in the night. Was he ready to be able to live happily not knowing a single thing about this horrible side of the world that, after gaining all of the knowledge from the voice currently in his head, he no longer wanted to be a part of? As long as he was around, they were not safe. 

“It seems you have made your choice young nephilim.” The voice inside him observed. Of course he knew, he was a part of him. Deep down inside, Alec thinks he had always known the answer. 

Alec took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m ready.”

Alec’s eyes rolled back into his head as the world went white.


	2. chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec moves back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, I've finally finished this story and now I'm starting to edit it! Please bare with me as the updates may take a while as I want to add some more substories in the chapters, but I will be uploading more when I am happy with it. 
> 
> Enjoy chapter 2!

Six Years Later 

“Welcome to Alicante - Population 8,000 - where all of the legends are true” 

Alec rolled his eyes at the ridiculous sign on his left as he drove past it. Despite the black with gold lettered sign being put up over 40 years ago, it still looked brand new. Considering the sign was situated on a windy narrow country lane covered over by archways of trees, it always seemed to amaze Alec that it stayed in such good condition, like there was something magical keeping it clean. 

As Alec drove over the invisible threshold that surrounds the town of Alicante, he breathes a resolute sigh. He knew this day was coming for a while, yet he still couldn’t seem to quite live with his decision. Alec (short for Alexander, but no one ever called him it if he could help it) Gideon Lightwood and his family were all born here. Generations of Lightwoods in fact came from Alicante, but after a very nasty divorce between his Mother and his Father when Alec was 18, his Mother decided to pack him and his siblings up and move them all out of Alicante to the heights of New York City, where for the next six years they would all live together in peace. Or so Alec thought. One by one, all of the Lightwoods decided that they missed the small town country life and eventually moved back. After much persuading from his little brothers and sister, Alec was the last one to be convinced to move back home. 

As he drove through the streets, he noticed the small shops that lined the streets and smiled. From his memory, nothing had really changed. There was still the little coffee shop where he discovered his love of coffee and henceforth had a part time job at over the summers from the age of 14, the gym where he and his younger brother Jace used to work out so Jace could check out his crush Clary Fairchild once a week, the town hall where all of the town’s meetings were held, and even further from that were winding roads leading to all of the plantations for the local farms. Once upon a time Alec loved this place and swore blind that he would never leave. Alicante was his home and he didn’t need to see anywhere else. But now that he had been shown that there was a bigger world out there to explore, it was just bricks and mortar to him. Yes he would come by once every few months and come and see his family when they all decided to move back here, but over the years, his ideas had changed and to him, this was just a place full of memories, to which he would leave behind after a week and not think of the second he saw the bright bustling streets of New York. 

Now, things would be different. Alec had been persuaded by his sister Isabelle to join the local university so he could study his love of history. Local history was the topic of his recent dissertation and it seemed to make sense to write his thesis on the town that he grew up in, especially since he would be living in the family home. “It’s only for a few years and you will be back home” he told himself every time a knot coiled it’s way into his stomach about leaving the city. Maybe he would enjoy the quieter life? Maybe he might move back here permanently when all is said and done and maybe teach history at the local school? He highly doubted it, but he was always open-minded to new options. Alec had had enough drama in his life watching his parents get divorced. Maybe the quieter life would do him some good? 

As he pulled up on the drive to the large white pillared plantation building in front of him, he took a moment in the drivers seat to take it all in. This was his family home. Still preserved and never sold. It was within his parent’s divorce that his Mother would be left the house as she left with the children, especially since the house originally belonged to his Mother’s family, the Truebloods. 

“Home sweet home” He sighed as he got out of the car and started to collect his bags. 

“Alec!” He heard a shout from behind the car. The small boy in front of Alec that he remembered was not so small anymore. Trying to hold onto his glasses, the boy ran straight towards Alec. Without thinking, Alec dropped the bags in his hands and held his arms out for the boy to run into. 

“Max! I’ve missed you. I thought I told you to stop growing when I was last here.” 

Max groaned. “That was 8 months ago Alec and I’m 15 now. You can’t expect me to stay little forever” 

Alec chuckled “Of course I can. You’re my little brother and you always will be to me. Now come on. Help me with these bags?” With that the two boys grabbed Alec’s luggage and walked into the open front door of the house. As Alec looked around, he noticed that the house had been redecorate since he was last here. It was lighter, the walls filled with the odd painting and multiple shelves of books. He laughed to himself. He definitely knew where his love of books and learning came from. 

“Alec” A warm calming voice stopped Alec in his revery as an older woman with black hair tied in a tight bun, wearing a black pencil skirt, black heels and a white flowing blouse walked towards him, arms open wide with a smile that matched. 

“Mother” He smiled and walked into her embrace. They stayed like that for a moment, his Mother’s shoulders dropped as she settled herself into Alec’s arms. 

“I’m so glad that you decided to stay with us while you did your studies. It’ll be nice to have all of you around the house again.” 

“I still came home to visit.” Alec lightly complains but once again he feels a little tug in his chest. He knows deep down that his Mother misses him terribly and he really should have visited more than he did. He hoped that living with her for a while would make up for it somehow.

His Mother smiled, ignoring Alec’s comment. “Jace and Izzy are out at the moment, but they should be back home soon. They’ve really been looking forward to having you home too. I’ll have dinner ready in an hour. It’s spaghetti bolognese, your favourite if I remember rightly?” 

Alec smiled. “Okay. Great. I’ll go upstairs and unpack my things.” 

Walking into his childhood room stirred a lot of memories for Alec. Looking at one corner in the room, he remembered the times that he would stay in his room reading for hours sitting on a worn beanbag, another corner of his room reminded him of when his brothers and sister used to make forts out of the pillows and duvets in his room for movie nights and even looking at his bed reminded him of when he hid in his room to get away from his parent’s arguing. The memories sat lovingly in his mind, good and bad. Everywhere he looked, there was a memory for Alec to pick at. For some children, having a messy room was the norm but Alec was always one for minimalism and tidiness. The cream walls were bare except from a cork board that sat above his white desk in the corner that was filled with many photos of his family. Placing the bags down on the soft dark blue carpet by his wardrobe, Alec slumped himself onto his king size bed, his 6ft 2in lanky frame leaving his feet slightly hanging over the end and stared at the ceiling. Taking a deep cleansing breath he closed his eyes for a moment collecting himself, the long drive to Alicante sitting heavy behind his eyes. He had done it. He had finally moved back home, albeit temporarily. He promised himself he would never move back and yet here he was. As he laid on the soft bedding surrounded by the familiar smell of his mother’s laundry detergent, while the familiar sounds of his mother downstairs preparing dinner with the radio playing gently in the background, Alec soon drifted off to sleep. 

As promised one hour later, Alec was sitting downstairs at the dinner table surrounded by his family. To his left at the head of the table was his Mother Maryse, to his right was Max and opposite him were his brother Jace and sister Isabelle. Looking between the two siblings in front of him, his brother’s bright blond hair a stark contrast to his sister’s deep ebony flowing hair, you could tell that the two were not related by blood, but all four siblings would argue that they will always be siblings. Jace Lightwood was adopted into the family when was he was ten years old. His parents died in a house fire that Jace somehow managed to survive. Being similar in age, Alec was the first person that Jace warmed up to when he shut himself away, refusing to talk to anyone at all for months on end and he was the person who Jace always went to at night when he had reoccurring nightmares about the night of the house fire. Not that either of them would admit it now, but it was not uncommon for them to wake up in the same bed together after Jace would have one of his flashbacks.

“So Alec, how long are you staying here for?” Izzy asked 

“I think about three years. That gives me enough time to finish my course and the thesis that I’m writing about Alicante” 

“So you’re writing about the history of Alicante?” Jace asked “Are you going to write about all of the supernatural stuff that happened here then?” 

Alec scoffed “Jace, you know none of that stuff actually happened right? There is no evidence to prove that witchcraft, vampires and werewolves exists. Yes one of our townspeople was accidentally burnt in one of the Salem witch trials and there is meant to be some rubbish about people hearing wolves howling at full moons, but that is all superstition. People like to get wrapped up in all of that stuff too easily.” Alec argues while noticing that Jace, Izzy, Max and Maryse all share a look. Alec’s not sure what the private conversation was between them all, but he was sure he didn’t want anything to do with it. 

“Even so, it keeps my bookshop open all year round” Maryse counters. 

“Speaking of which, would you mind if I come round to the shop at some point so I can look at a few of the books?” Alec asks 

“Of course.” Maryse smiled, accepting the change of subject “Come around whenever you want. When do your classes start?” 

“Not for a few days. Maybe I’ll pop in tomorrow to get a head start.” 

“Sounds great”

With that, the conversation flowed into natural small talk, Izzy told everyone how she was doing in college, Jace mentioned how he was spending more time at the gym where he has a full time job and Maryse talked about her book shop. 

Alec took a look around the room and couldn’t felt but feel peace wash over him. He had really missed his family and he knew that right then, he had made the right choice. 

He was home.


	3. chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malec meet!

Alec woke up early with Maryse to join her to go to her bookshop for the day. It was a small shop on a busy cobbled stoned high street but as soon as you walked in, the wall to wall bookcases and low lighting from side lamps with mismatched tables and armchairs dotted around the room, felt like you had fallen into a whole other world. It was calm, serene and it was Alec’s second favourite place to be in Alicante. His first of course being his home. As his Mother opened up the shop for the day, he chose a spot in the furthest corner of the room, opened up his laptop, placed a notepad and pen next to his takeaway coffee mug and decided to go on the hunt for his first set of books. Alec loved the smell of books. He wasn’t sure why. It was always his calming mechanism as a child when his parents were fighting, to open up a book and get lost into the world that someone else had created from their imagination alone. As soon as he fell into exploring history, his love of books grew. It didn’t matter what the topic was, he always found the information fascinating, like it was a piece of history itself coming to life as his mind created imagery to the words written on the page. 

As he walked around the room, scouring bookcase after bookcase for the history section, he couldn’t help but notice how many books there were about the paranormal. He rolled his eyes. How can one town be so into the paranormal? He never understood it, but if it helped keep his Mother’s bookshop open so who was he to judge? He was never one to believe in anything unless he had evidence or had seen it himself first hand. 

As he reached up to look at a particular red bound book, a tanned, bejewelled hand touched his causing a shiver to run down his arm. He immediately looked at the person next to him reaching for the same book and his eyes widened. The asian man standing next to him was smaller than him, he had jet black hair that was spiked with red highlights at the top, he was well dressed in a red shirt, a black waistcoat and black trousers. Alec noticed how a few of the buttons on his shirt were undone to show off multiple thin gold chains around his neck. But what caught him most was the mans face. It was, in Alec’s opinion, striking. His thin face adorned a thin goatee which suited him well but most of all, as he looked this man in the eye to apologise, the man’s gaze caused Alec to freeze. He felt like he could fall into those soft brown eyes forever. They looked like they were full of so much wisdom for someone who could be no more than thirty years old. As one of the side lamps by the bookcase started to flicker, Alec swore he saw a flash of gold in those eyes. 

“Speak Alec! Speak!” He chastised himself. The man was so beautiful to him, that he forgot how to do anything. His brain was screaming at him to do anything. Just anything. In all honestly Alec didn’t want to. He wanted to drink the view of this man in as his heart raced and blood flew to his face in a flush. Was it wrong for Alec to delude himself enough that it looked like the guy was just staring at him like he was too? 

Before Alec got a chance, the man jumped in before him. “I’m sorry.” 

Alec cleared his throat as the spell was broken and he broke eye contact “No it’s okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you wanted to look at that book. I get into my head when I’m in a place like this and I don’t really see much around me apart from what I’m looking for” 

Alec inwardly groaned at himself. What the hell was that! You’re Alexander Gideon Lightwood! You do not babble and take nonsense with a guy you just met! Even if they are so incredibly handsome…..Alec get a grip! 

Alec had the book in his hand, he looked at it and gestured it towards the man. 

“Here. I’m sure I’ve probably read it before a thousand times anyway” Alec joked 

The man shook his head slowly. “No. It’s okay. It looked like you really wanted to read it anyway. Besides. I think the person holding the book might be more interesting anyway” Wow that was bold! Alec had never been flirted with before, to his knowledge anyway, so once again he was stunned in place. 

He shook his head to clear it. “No honestly I insist. My Mother owns the book shop, I’m sure she can get me another copy.” 

“Oh! You’re Maryse’s son.” It was more of a statement rather than a question. 

“Ah, yes.” Alec nodded “I’m Alec” 

“As in, short for Alexander? Your Mother mentions you all the time to me whenever I come into the bookshop.”

Alec groan inwardly “Yes that’s me and I’m sure whatever she said about me is highly exaggerated.”

The man chuckled, it sounded like music to Alec’s ears that he would happily play on a loop. “It’s all good things I promise you. She tells me that you’re going to Alicante university for your degree. I study there too”

“Oh really? Doing what?” 

“Thaumaturgy. I moved here a year or so ago as I got told this place is crawling with supernatural history and decided I would take a course related to it for a few years.” 

Alec internally groaned. Not another quack with the idea that the supernatural existed. But he decided to be nice and not show his displeasure. “Interesting. I’ve never heard of that course before” 

The man grimaced “It’s a very niche subject. Only a set few can do it. It is literally a lifetime of research”

Alec laughed. “Well I wish you luck with that. It was nice to meet you…” 

The man held his hand out for Alec to shake. “Magnus” 

“Magnus” Alec confirmed shaking his hand, trying his best to ignore the light spark appearing at their touch.

“Guess I’ll see you around” Magnus smiled as he took the book into his hand and walked towards Maryse at the counter while Alec continued to look for other books to read, trying to not think about those eyes that encapsulated him. Inwardly he smiled. Alec had accepted his sexuality a long time ago and so had his family. They were really supportive when he decided to come out to them and it made the whole situation a lot easier on him. Despite accepting who he was he had never had a serious boyfriend. He had never wanted one. 

Deciding on a dark brown leather-cased book he sat back down and start reading. 

It was late in the evening when Alec decided to leave his Mother’s book shop, he had had a insightful day, his notebook filled with topics he wanted to discuss in his thesis. He walked up to his Mother who was back at the counter after serving the last customer for the day. 

“I’m going to go home. I don’t think my mind can take in anymore today.” He said in way of greeting. 

His Mother smiled. “Okay. Make sure you get home safe. It’s never safe to walk alone in the dark on your own.” 

Alec’s chuckled. “Mother, I’m 28 and I’ve lived in New York. I’ll be fine” His face fell thinking there may have been a second meaning to her statement. “Do you want me to wait for you so you don’t have to walk home on your own?” 

She smiled softly in response and shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Jace always walks me home at the end of the day. Go on. You go home.” She encouraged. Alec nodded as he grabbed his things and left the shop, walking in the direction of home. 

The streets were lit with street lamps as he walked back. It was eerily quiet but Alec loved it. In New York he could never get a moment’s peace. They didn’t call New York ‘the city that never sleeps’ for no reason. As he walked past the town square to head up the winding path back home, something caught his eye. A black shadow. He turned his head immediately to where he saw the shadow to see nothing there. He shook his head, feeling silly. This was nothing new for Alec. For as long as he could remember he could see shadows in the corners of his eyes but they always turned out to be nothing. He even once went to an eye doctor to make sure he wasn’t seeing things but they explained that his eyes were fine and it was probably just a trick of the light and it can be common. He had never told his family for fear of being called mad. 

It didn’t take long for Alec to return home. As promised, his Mother and Jace arrived 30 minutes later with dinner. 

Throughout dinner they discussed what Alec had dug up about the town’s history but all Alec could think about was Magnus’ eyes. 

Alec smiled to himself as he watched his sister laugh at an anecdote Max made. 

He could really get used to living here again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who were wondering thaumaturgy is legimately a subject that you can study! I had to search online for something that sounded related to magic but this was the closest I could find. 
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter :D 
> 
> More to come soon!


	4. chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dark plan unfurls

The dark red dining room was quiet apart from the sound of low pitched screams in a nearby room. A tall bald man in his 40’s sat at the head of a long dark wooden table sipping on a glass of red wine. A knock alerted the man to someone’s presence at the door. He nodded to a guard standing at the door to let the intruder in. Another slightly older baldheaded man walked into the room, his black clothing and white skin showing of multiple runes tattooed across his body.

“Robert Lightwood. How may I assist you?” The man greeted warmly as Robert Lightwood walked into the room and placed himself six feet apart from him in an ‘at ease’ army pose. 

“We have the werewolf Sir” Robert answered monotonously 

“Perfect. Place it with the vampire and please.” He pleaded “Try to keep this one quiet. The vampire is giving me a headache from it’s screaming.” 

Robert nodded. “Yes Sir. Do you think we will be ready in time?” 

“We will be ready.” He reassured Robert taking another sip of wine.

Robert Lightwood pursed his lips in response. “Valentine. You need to make sure that you have all of the necessary sacrifices otherwise this will not work. We only have 2 more months until the next new moon equinox. It will be our best shot of reviving Lucifer.” Valentine smiled at Robert. 

Valentine looked at Robert incredulously. “Relax Robert. Everything will be fine. We already have the wolf and the vampire, we just need a warlock.” 

“But what about my son?” Robert asked, his brows furrowed. 

Valentine shrugged his shoulders. “What about him?”

Robert stared around the room, looking for the right way to dictate his answer. “Do you think he will be…revived, now he back in town?” 

Valentine shook his head. “I highly doubt it. As far as you have told me, he chose to have his memories wiped. He knows nothing of what we are or what we do. As far as he knows, you are still on tour with the army. The angels will not see it as an act of compassion to revive his memories since it was his decision in the first place. Michael was the only thing standing in our way and your son has unknowingly seen to it that he will never return.” 

“But what about my other sons?” 

“Jace is not of your bloodline and your youngest is not of age yet. Even if he was it has to be the first born son. Trust me Robert. We have nothing to worry about.” Valentine reassured. 

Robert sighed. “I hope you’re right. But last time, your son-“ 

“Jonathon was a naive little boy who didn’t know what he was doing. He got himself killed because he was not prepared. We are.” Valentine interjected. “Plus it was six years ago. Lucifer has always taken a few hundred years to build his armies back up before he attempts to take over the Earth plane again. He will be weak still but we have to convince him that we already have an army willing to fight for him. An army that is superior to his demons with a knowledge of how nephilim fight and how to take them down successfully. We have gone through this multiple time. Once he is resurrected, we can take him down in the middle of the battle once he believes that he has the upper hand. Then the nephilim will be forever revered as the greatest species.”

Robert nods “Yes Sir.” 

“Is that all?” Valentine asks annoyed at Robert’s doubt.

Robert hesitated to answer. “There is news of the downworlders going into hiding. It seems our actions are starting to be noticed.” 

Valentine scoffs. “Over a missing vampire and werewolf? Are they not so open minded that they could have just gone off on their own accord or that maybe they could have been killed?” 

Robert nods in response. “I’m not sure Sir. But either way the warlock will be harder to catch if they are all under suspicion.” 

“Agreed. Regardless it must be done if we want to revive Lucifer at the right time. Make sure you bring me that warlock.” 

“Actually Sir. We have a warlock in mind. He is very powerful but we are waiting for a moment for him to let his guard down. He is currently hiding out as a University student where my son is going to be studying.” Robert explains. 

“Are you still in touch with your son?” 

Robert nodded. “I am". 

Valentine gleamed. “Perfect. It looks like your son will be useful after all. Make sure to keep tabs on the warlock by reaching out to your son. Find a way for Alec to befriend him. Then we have the warlock where we want him, under the Circle’s nose.” 

Robert nodded. “Yes Sir.” 

“Okay. You are dismissed. Keep me updated” With that, Robert left the room. 

Valentine smirked as he finished his glass of wine in front of him. 

His plan was coming together nicely.


	5. chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad dreams and coffee meets

_Alec ran down the street panting. He was searching the streets, trying to find a high place to stand and watch. He soon caught a fire escape on his left. It was perfect. He could get to the top of the apartment building and run across the top if he needed to. Scaling the steps was easy, but he knew he needed to slow down soon. He was bleeding heavily from his side from a demon that had attacked him not long ago. He felt awful leaving Izzy and Jace alone with the demon but he knew he needed an advantage point. His bow and arrow were like an extension of his body. It was his weapon of choice, which was sadly not the best weapon when you were dealing with monsters up close._

_As he reached the top of the building, he approached the edge and scanned down below. Izzy and Jace were fighting a large demon with multiple horns running down it’s back and they seemed to be winning. The demon was slowing down, but he knew that one perfectly placed arrow would end all of this. So he got himself ready, he aimed an arrow right at the top of the demon, near the back of the neck aiming for it’s weakest point. He took a deep breath in and out and fired. The arrow hit it’s target. Alec never missed. As the demon vaporised, he heard screeching coming from his right side. He turned instantly towards the sound but it was too late before he realised his mistake. Another black bat-winged demon with a long tongue and sharp fangs flew towards him and attacked Alec. He had never felt pain like it. He could hear Jace and Izzy quietly in the background calling for him. The pain was excruciating as he felt teeth plunging into his shoulder while claws attacked the rest of his body._

_He felt his eyes forcefully closing as all of his energy drained from him. He had messed up badly and was probably going to die. There was nothing he could do. He couldn’t fight back. He had lost the energy or the will to move his body. As he took what he thought was his final breath, he closed his eyes fully and thought of his family. He bent his head towards the sky as he silently wished for their forgiveness for this rookie mistake of not checking his surroundings._

_He expected death to be kind to him and the blackness to envelope him, where his soul would be eventually sent to the heavens to be greeted kindly by the angels for his hard work, but no such thing came. He saw behind his eyelids a flash of light and the pain disappeared. He slowly opened his eyes with as much muster as he could. His vision was blurry but he could still hear well. He saw a flash of calming blue envelope him as he lost the battle against his body and closed his eyes again._

_As he laid there on the roof of a random apartment building, he heard a familiar and soothing voice._

_“It’s okay. Alexander. I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”_

_Magnus?_

__Alec forcefully sat up in bed panting. Sweat was pouring down his face and tears were running down his face. ‘Shit. Another nightmare’ Alec thought to himself. Almost not believing what had happened, he ran a hand over his shoulder. Of course, there was nothing there. He was fine. He was in his childhood bed. It was just a dream. A bad dream that had felt so real._ _

__His mind ran through the nightmare. Why was Magnus there? What was the blue light all about? Why did he feel so safe from just hearing Magnus’ voice? He shook his head violently as he ran his hands over his face, trying to remove the sweat and tears from his face. He decided to go downstairs to the kitchen to grab himself a glass of water. He couldn’t help but notice that since he had moved here, the nightmares were happening more often. Maybe it was a warning? Alec chuckled to himself. No that was silly. It was probably from the amount of rubbish he was reading from the supernatural themed books at his Mother’s shops, that was playing with his head._ _

__He made his way to the kitchen, deciding to leave all of the lights off to avoid waking up his family. He grabbed a glass and filled it, turning so his back was to the kitchen sink and drank. Each gulp of water woke him up more and refreshed his thoughts. He was being silly. It was just a nightmare. Nothing more. They always say that dreams are a distorted representation of your thoughts. Alec finished his water and turned again to put it into the sink. He stilled as he noticed a distorted shadow in the corner of his eye. He stared in the direction of the shadow and listened to a minute of silence before concluding it was a trick of the mind. It was dark in the kitchen. The moon light was shining through the windows so they always would create weird shaped shadows._ _

__As he reached the top of the curved staircase, he heard the front door open. Alec stilled again in shock. As far as he knew everyone was in bed. Was there an intruder in the house? He felt his pajama pockets and realised he didn’t have his phone on him. He realised quickly that he had two options. He could investigate who had entered or run back to his room and grab his phone to call the police. Like the idiot he was, he went for option number one. He stayed at the top of the stairs but tried to creep down a few steps to get a better view through the balustrades. He heard the door shut quietly as a set of heavy boot prints filled the empty space. Alec tried his best to hold his breath. He didn’t want to get caught in case it was an intruder. He couldn’t fight. He had never learnt to, nor did he want to learn and in this moment in time, Alec had regretted that decision. He felt useless as he heard the heavy boots walk across the entrance way. He heard the door of the old cupboard under the stairs being opened, so he used this opportunity to look over and get a look at the person at the bottom of the stairs. Relief flooded him as a familiar view of bright blond hair greeted him. It was only Jace. He must have gone out to see Clary tonight and just didn’t tell anyone. That never surprised Alec. Jace was always one who did as he pleased. But the moment of relief halted as something caught Alec’s eye. Jace had opened a chest in the cupboard, one he had never noticed before and Jace pulled out something long and silver from his side which glinted in the moonlight. Alec wasn’t sure what it was, but to him it looked like a long sword. He wasn’t sure from this angle. Alec shook his head. What on earth was he thinking? Was he still dreaming? Was his previous nightmare still messing with him? He decided before he was caught to head as quietly as he could back to his room and shut the door. Clearly Jace had a secret and whatever it was he was going to find out._ _

__Alec didn’t sleep well for the rest of the night. With a mixture of his nightmare and what he thought he had seen in the middle of the night, he ended up tossing and turning in bed until the sun went up. He looked at the clock. It was 6am. Too early for anyone to be out of bed yet. So Alec did what he usually did when he couldn’t sleep. He decided to go for a run. He got dressed and made himself some coffee, before heading to the cupboard under the stairs to get his running shoes. His thoughts turned again to last night. Jace had opened a chest near the back which Alec had never seen before. Without thinking about it, Alec moved the shoes and the coats in the cupboard in every direction he could think of to search for the chest. But he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. There was a box at the back, but that had old shoes in it. Nothing in the box represented anything that was long and silver. Was he going crazy? Was he just seeing things in the middle of night? He honestly didn’t know. But he was so sure he saw something. After pondering for another minute or two, he cleaned up the cupboard as best as he could and grabbed his running shoes._ _

__Running always helped Alec clear his head. It helped him to think logically and wake up properly, but today none of those things happened. As he ran through the streets with his headphones on, his mind kept going back to his nightmare. Why had it felt so real? Why did he even encourage the concept of this other world existing where things go bump in the night? He had never believed in the supernatural so why was he entertaining this thought now?_ _

__He slowed down outside the local coffee shop and turned off his music. He needed another coffee before walking back home and heading to his class this morning. As he walked into the shop, the sound of low jazz music filled the air and the smell of fresh baked goods filled his nose. His stomach growled at the want for food since he hadn’t had breakfast yet this morning. As he queued up he noticed a familiar figure walk past him with coffee in their hand._ _

__“Magnus?” He called out. The man turned towards his shout and noticed Alec in his running gear and smiled._ _

__“Alexander.” Magnus answered surprised. “How are you?”_ _

__Alec smiled. How did the man manage to look so good at this time in the morning? He was smartly dressing in a black shirt with a black and pink pinstripe waistcoat and trousers. Only he could pull off an outfit like that, unlike Alec who preferred his overly worn baggy clothing which may or may not have a few extra holes in places where there wasn’t supposed to be holes. “I’m good. What brings you here so early in the morning?”_ _

__Magnus lifted his takeaway coffee mug in answer. “I have an early class today plus I can not say no to Maia’s freshly made croissants. They are heavenly when they are still warm.”_ _

__Alec’s smile broadened. “Noted. I guess I’ll see you around the campus then?”_ _

__Magnus nodded. “Yeah. I’ll see you around.” He started to walk away but suddenly backtracked and turned to face Alec. “Unless you would like to have breakfast with me this morning. My guess is you have just been for a run and not had breakfast yet?” Magnus noted looking at Alec’s attire._ _

__Alec blushed before debating his options. He really should get back to shower but a part of him really didn’t want to miss a chance to get to know this mystery man some more. “Uh. Yeah. That would be great. Pick a table and I’ll meet you there.”_ _

__A few minutes later, Alec joined Magnus at a table at the back of the coffee shop._ _

__“Thanks for agreeing to have breakfast with me.” Magnus commented as he sat down. “So what were you doing in your Mother’s bookshop when we last met? It seemed like you were researching something.”_ _

__Alec smiled at Magnus’ attention to detail. “Yeah I am. I am researching the history of the town. I’m doing it for my graduate studies.”_ _

__“Ah. Smart and good looking. Is there anything you can not do?” Magnus joked causing Alec to blush. He had never really been complimented before by anybody but he found that he welcomed the feeling._ _

__“I can not cook well if that helps. In New York where I was originally from before I came here, I lived on a lot of take out food.” Alec replied causing Magnus to laugh._ _

__“Well I’m sure we can rectify that somehow.” Magnus joked as he looked at his watch. “I’m sorry. I really have to go. My class starts in 20 minutes and it’s across town.”_ _

__“Oh” Alec replied trying to not let his disappointment show. “It’s okay. You go. I’ll finish here and maybe I’ll see you in the campus at some point.”_ _

__“I would like that very much.” Magnus paused giving Alec a wide smile as he went to grab his belongings and headed towards the door._ _

__Alec took a sip of his coffee, trying not to stare at Magnus as he left the coffee shop._ _


	6. chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little history lesson and a date (?)

It had been over a week since Alec had started studying at the University of Alicante and he had already a pile of work to do at home. Walking through the campus was an odd notion to Alec. He had promised himself that he would never step foot in the University let alone study in it. He wanted to see the world. He wanted to travel and learn about the history that the world had to offer and yet here he was. As he had sat down in his lecture for the morning, he couldn’t help but feel a little rejected. He hadn’t yet seen Magnus around the campus but he wasn’t sure whether that was because his timetable didn’t match with Magnus’ in some way or if the guy had lied that he was a student here. He set his notepad out on his desk and began to take notes for his thesis as the professor walked in. 

“Good morning class. I am Professor Alaric and welcome to today’s lesson. Today we are going a little off topic on American History and we are studying local folklore. Now as you may know, a lot of the history in our town is based on ancient folklore. It is an essential part of history around the world. From the witch trials in Salem to the Loch Ness Monster, it’s stories like these that have been passed down for generations that are now the legends we know today. Now I know as historians, a lot of you may not be believers of such mythical nonsense but it has shaped a lot of traditions that people still believe in. Today we are going to be focusing on one particular type of supernatural creature and that is the nephilim.” Alec rolled his eyes as the professor brought up a slideshow of different pictures and paintings of angels and demons fighting.

“Nephilim are believed to be mysterious creatures that were first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. One interpretation is that the nephilim are seen as fallen angels. Another early source relate them to be the ‘sons of heaven’ and, as legend would have it, angels would travel to the earth plane once a year and copulate with females and impregnate them so that they could bare their children to carry on the angelic race. These children are believed to carry angel blood in their system and are permitted to fulfil their holy duty of protecting the human race from mythical creatures such as lycanthrope, or werewolf, the nightcrawlers ,otherwise known as vampires, and the waerloga, commonly known as warlocks. There are many a story that connects this town to these mythical stories. Most of them had been written off as conspiracies. Not many people were believed back in the day when they claimed that a large dog howling at the moon was actually a werewolf, or that a person drank another person’s blood to gain immortality. However, practicing magic was common back in the day through medicine-men or shamans until it became illegal through the introduction of Christianity. 

The nephilm were described as beings in human forms who would bare multiple rune tattoos on their skin which would be ignited to enhance certain abilities with a wand like contraption that they called a stele. It would ensure that they had enhanced abilities such as better sight, better agility and even the ability to become invisible to the human eye in the form known as a glamour. It is said that they were master fighters who would wield weapons gifted directly from the angels and that is where they get their power from.

There are multiple theories that nephilim still walk the earth. They would be descendants of the original nephilm race but they would still have the same magical abilities including strength to fight the supernatural monsters that walk the earth. Of course, as the title of our lesson implies, there has been no concrete evidence that the nephilim, nor vampires, werewolves and warlocks still exist so you can rest assure that there will be no monsters hiding under your bed tonight.” A group of students laughed at the joke while Alec rolled his eyes. He understood that supernatural folklore was a part of the history of the town but like his professor said, there was no concrete evidence. Alec always believed in evidence. To see things was to believe them. It all started when he stopped believe in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy because he never saw them in person at an early age. 

After a full hour of talking about mythical folklore, Alec was ready to leave his class. He had had enough of this mumbo-jumbo for one day and needed to carry on with his thesis. It was dark by the time his classes and blocks of independent studies had all finished. He packed up his books and decided to leave the campus to make his way home. The walk home was beautiful. All of the streets had been decorated with lights for the holidays and a soft blanket of snow was painting the ground. Alec loved this time of year. He always thought of snow as a blanket covering all of the dirtiness on the ground and painting it with a beauty that would only last for so long. That was how he felt about himself sometimes. Underneath his own facade, he had his own blanket of snow covering a deep inside sensation of feeling hollow with a lot of feelings that he could not quite place. Like he was missing something, but of what he was not sure. 

Alec decided to put his headphones in and listen to music for the rest of the journey home. Getting lost in the music, Alec didn’t realise it when he accidentally bumped in a body on the street. He turned to apologise when he was met with a familiar face. 

“Magnus. Hi” He said taking out his headphones. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” 

Magnus smiled. “It’s quite alright. Are you okay?”

Alec chuckled. “Yeah. Just a bit of a long day that’s all.” 

“I guessing you’ve only just finished for the day? I bet your lectures were not more boring than mine” Magnus joked. 

Alec grimaced. “Probably. They tried to teach us about the local folklore today. The professor kept going on and on about these creatures called the nephilim. I swear everyone who lives here is some form of a paranormal fanatic” 

Magnus laughed “So you are not one of those ‘fanatics’ yourself?” 

Alec shook his head. “They were just stories made to scare people back in the day. I don’t believe in the supernatural. I believe that everything happens for a reason, I don’t believe in coincidences and I think that seeing is believing. If someone could show me that they could shape-shift or make sparks fly out of their hands then I would believe them. Other than that no.” 

“Hmm. Interesting. Good looking and logical. Who knew?” Magnus smirked. 

“Magnus” Alec chastised playfully while blushing. 

Magnus shrugged his shoulders. “What? It’s refreshing. It’s nice to find someone who is not so…. in tune to the supernatural world.” 

“Well what about you then? Do you believe?” Alec asked. 

Magnus paused for a moment before picking his words carefully. “As someone who is basically studying basic witchcraft in class, it would be silly of me to not be a believer, right?”

Alec laughed shaking his head, realising his mistake. “Of course. How could I forget?” 

There was an awkward pause before Magnus spoke. “I hope this is not too forward of me but, would you like to have a drink with me sometime?” Magnus asks hesitantly. 

Alec paused for a moment stunned. Alec wasn’t really one for going out. He didn’t have many friends other than his siblings so there was never a chance to be invited out in the first place, and to say he was thrown was an understatement. This gorgeous man was asking him out? He barely knew him. But a part of him knew that he wanted to get to know this guy better. There was something….magical about Magnus that he couldn’t quite put his finger on but he liked the idea of finding out what it was about Magnus that attracted him so much. 

Alec nodded and smiled confidently. “Sure. When?” 

“How about right now? I know a really good bar around the corner?” Magnus answered pointing to a club that Alec knew was no more than a five minute walk away. 

Alec deliberated for a moment to two. Was he really dressed appropriately for a date? Wait. Was this a date? Had he just assumed before confirming it? Would it be wise for him to be on a supposed-date while still carrying his books and laptop from class today? 

Noticing Alec’s deliberations, Magnus decided to give him a way out. “Unless you want to do this another time? You have your stuff with you and I’m sure you don’t want to take it all to a bar. Plus, your family is probably waiting for you at home.” 

Alec’s heart warmed at how sweet Magnus was being. Alec shook his head in confirmation. He had no idea if or when he would get another opportunity to see Magnus again and he wanted to jump at this chance while he could. “It’s okay. I just need to message my family to tell them I won’t be home for dinner. I’m sure they will understand.” 

Magnus beamed. “Wonderful. Let’s go.” 

After sending a quick text to Izzy telling her he was staying out late with a friend (could he call Magnus a friend?) Alec followed Magnus to ‘The Hunter’s Moon’ bar around the corner. It was a quaint little place. All low lighting and lots of wood interior to give it a rustic look. After finding a table, they both found their way to the bar and ordered their drinks. 

“So Magnus. Tell me about yourself.” Alec started 

“There is not much to know really. Only child, my Mother and Step-Father died when I was little, and I have my own little self made family of friends who I like to see on a regular basis.” Magnus explained. 

Alec’s brows furrowed in sympathy “I’m sorry to hear about your parent’s Magnus.” 

“It was a long time ago.” Magnus shrugged off. 

“Can I ask about your Father? I’m sorry if it’s too forward” Holding a hand up in apology. He didn’t want to offend the man by being too intrusive on the first date. 

Magnus smiled. “It’s okay. It’s a part of who I am. I don’t like to shy away from things like that. There’s nothing I can do about it so why try and hide it? I never knew my Father. My Mother and my Father had an affair, she got pregnant, he left. I’ve never wanted to know who he was so I never asked and he has never come to look for me.” 

Alec frowned. Shit he felt terrible. He really should have not asked about such a heavy topic straight off the bat. Quick Alec change the subject! “What about your friends? Tell me about them.” 

Magnus took a sip of his drink, secretly happy that Alec changed the subject. “Well I have three friends who I would call my family. I have Catarina who works in the local hospital, I have Raphael who owns the Hotel Du’Mort not far from here and Ragnor who is a historian and a professor at the University.”

Alec’s eyes beamed “Ragnor Fell?” 

“The very same” 

Alec smiled brightly. “He is my professor for one of my classes. I love his lectures. He explains everything like he was there himself. It’s amazing how much detail he brings up.” 

Magnus laughed “Yes. He is very knowledgable. I should introduce you two. Two history buffs like yourself would get on like a house on fire.”

They carried on talking until the bar was almost empty. Over time, Alec started to relax more and more around Magnus. He seemed like such a sweet genuine person and Alec definitely wanted to get to know Magnus more as the evening drew on. 

Alec checked the time on his watch and realised how late it had gotten. “I should get going. I have class in the morning and Professor Fell doesn’t like it when we are late.” 

Magnus laughed. “Yes. Ragnor is definitely one for tardiness. He hates it when I’m late but I always argue that I can’t help it that I like to be fashionably late. Can I walk you home Alexander? If I’m not intruding of course”

“No. That would be nice. Thank you Magnus.” Alec blushed as he grabbed his things to leave. 

The walk home was comfortable. They both carried on talking the whole way home laughing and joking as if they had been friends for years. Soon enough they arrived outside Alec’s front door and had to say their goodbyes. 

“Thank you for tonight Magnus. It was nice.” 

“Thank you for accepting my offer Alexander.” Magnus answered. In that moment Magnus pulled out a business card from his wallet and handed it to Alec. “It’s my number…. just in case you want to let me know when you were next free and we could meet up again?” 

Alec took the business card and looked at it smiling. It was black with Magnus’ name written in swirling gold letters and… was that glitter in the background? “I’d like that very much.” 

“Great. I guess I’ll see you around Alexander. Good night.” 

“Good night Magnus.” With that, Magnus walked away after waving goodbye to Alec, Alec watching Magnus until he was out of sight while still clutching the business card. As he turned around, he pocketed the business card with a smile. He had a great time with Magnus tonight and even if nothing came of it, he knew they would still be good friends. As he was about to pull his keys out of his pocket, the front door swung open to reveal Izzy at the front door with a big smirk on her face. 

“So?” 

Alec shrugged his shoulders. “So what?” 

“Who was that?” Izzy asked playfully

“It’s my friend Magnus.” 

“Friend eh? He’s cute” Izzy commented making Alec’s eyes roll. 

“Come on. Let me inside.” Alec urged trying to pass Izzy on the doorstep.

“Oh come on. You’re not going to tell me that you just went out on a date? Your smile says everything right now” Izzy beamed at the bright look on Alec’s face. 

“Okay Izzy relax, it was not a date. We just had drinks and talked.” Alec argued as he put his stuff down next to a side table. 

“Are you sure? Because I’m sure I just saw you two exchanging numbers. That sounds like a date to me.” 

“Good night Izzy!” Alec shouted as he started walking up the stairs to his room, his heart full at the idea that he might have just had a date with one of the most beautiful men he had ever met.


	7. chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Malec date!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello you lovely people! I'm feeling generous so I'm adding as many chapters as I can today! 
> 
> FYI - One of the stories Magnus mentions to Alec in this chapter originally featured Magnus and Camille, but I thought it would be more fun with Catarina instead. Comment below if you can work out which one it is ;) 
> 
> Hope you enjoy

After a few days of texting each other non stop, Alec decides to call and meet up with Magnus. He had had fun the last time they had met and he wanted to see Magnus again. They decided on a picnic in the local park followed by a visit to an art exhibit that Magnus wanted to see. It was nothing special but it was a start. 

“-And that is how I got banned from ever entering Peru again” Magnus said finishing his story as they walked through the park, passing children playing in the playground and couples out walking their dogs. Alec couldn’t help wiping away a tear from laughing so much. 

“I can’t believe you are banned from an entire country, that’s insane!” Alec said trying his hardest to contain his laughter. 

“Well, my dear, you should have heard the scolding I got from Ragnor when he found out. It was hilarious.” Magnus commented as they entered the middle of the park and sat down by an old oak tree. 

“I guess he would not have been too impressed with you.” Alec said joining him leaning his back against the tree. 

“He most certainly was not. Remind me to tell you of the time that my friend Catarina and I got caught trying to sneak into a party that was being held by a royal family.” 

Alec looked back at Magnus shocked. “By the angel, did you make it in?” 

Magnus beamed with pride back at Alec. “We did…… For a whole of two minutes before they realised that we were not the Duke and Duchess of some random Island that we had made up on the spot.” They both laughed as they brought out their lunch from their bags. 

“That’s insane Magnus. You have been on so many adventures and yet I haven’t even left the country. I’ve only ever been to here and New York.” 

“I’m sure you have some interesting stories to tell despite not going far.” 

Alec looked solumnly at the floor. “Nope. My life has been very… mundane. Nothing exciting ever happens to me.” 

Magnus looks at Alec cheekily. “I’m sure we can rectify that somehow.” 

Alec looked back warily. “Although I can honestly say that meeting you has made life a little more interesting.” His eyes widened slightly in shock. He had no idea where that came from but he knew that it was true. He felt.. lighter somehow. Like Magnus had unlocked a box deep within him that made his days seem a little brighter. 

Magnus smiled as he murmured. “I could say the same thing.” They stared at each other, smiles on their faces for a while as they ate, a comfortable silence wrapping around them. “Oh!” Magnus said bringing Alec out of his thoughts. “I almost forgot, I brought you a gift.” 

Alec cringed inwardly. He never liked the idea of gifts. He was terrible at giving them and worse at receiving them if he didn’t like it. “Magnus, we barely know each other, you didn’t have to get me anything.” 

Magnus waved his hand at Alec, dismissing him as he routed into his side jacket pocket pulling out a small thin box. “Nonsense. I saw this the other day in a shop and it reminded me of you.” 

“Well, now I feel bad because I didn’t get you anything.” Alec argued childishly. 

“Don’t be silly. You didn’t have to get me anything. Your company is more than any gift you can ever give me.” He answered giving the box to Alec. 

Alec opened it, his eyes opening wide with shock. Inside the deep red velvet box was a thin leather bracelet with a blue round gem in the middle. It wasn’t really Alec’s thing to wear jewellery but this was gorgeous and, Alec inwardly promised himself to make it up to Magnus for this, especially since it did look expensive. The blue gem was mixed with a silver underlay so it shimmered in the light as he moved the bracelet. Alec looked up at Magnus and beamed. “I love it. Thank you. I promise I will get you something in return. This is too much.” 

Magnus giggled. “Like I said. All I will ever need is your company.” He said picking up the bracelet and placing it on Alec’s wrist, making sure the clasp was secure. “It’s just a little something from me, so that when you are held up writing your thesis one day, then you know I will be here with you.” 

“I’ll never take it off.” Alec promised, running a thumb over the beautiful gem. “Thank you”

Fighting his body to stop himself from blushing, he allowed himself a moment to just stare at Magnus. He had always found Magnus to be a good looking man but he hadn’t realised how beautiful he looked before. Every bit of him seemed to make the knot appearing in his stomach grow. He couldn’t help but notice that Magnus was staring back at him with the same amount of intensity. 

“So… shall we go visit that exhibition then?” Magnus asked with a clearing of his throat, pulling Alec out of his thoughts. 

Alec cleared his throat, resetting his mind to speak. “Uh, yeah sure.” Magnus smiled as they finished their lunch and made their way to the museum on the other side of town. Since it was the middle of the day, there weren’t that many people around but Magnus was so excited to see the new exhibition that had started a week ago in the museum, that Alec just couldn’t say no. Alec liked museums and to him exhibitions and paintings were a source of history and knowledge so he gladly accepted when Magnus invited him to come along. As they entered the giant museum, they walked around slowly admiring the paintings and sculptures that the museum had to offer. Magnus seemed to have a wealth of knowledge, talking about the artists and how they lived their life and how they used certain techniques to get their paintings to look the way that they did. It was like Magnus knew the artists personally and it fascinated Alec and honestly, he found it quite sexy. Alec had never met someone who could challenge him on an intellectual basis before and it was satisfying to meet someone who could hold a conversation with him without getting bored or changing the subject. 

As they made their way around towards the new exhibition, Alec frowned as he noticed that there was a red rope over the entrance of the exhibition stopping people from entering. 

“I’m sorry Magnus. Maybe we can come back another time.” Alec apologised. 

Magnus shook his head and smiled. “It’s okay. Maybe it’s only open at certain times.” He looked around and noticed that there was no security around and listened into the room. It seemed quiet. “Come on, let’s go in.” He said as he started to walk over the rope. 

Alec looked back shocked. “Magnus” He hissed quietly. “You can’t go in there. It’s not open yet.” 

“Then it means we get it all to ourselves. Come on. You said you wanted adventure so why not start now? No one will find us. I’ll make sure of it.” Before Alec could argue back, Magnus was over the red rope and around the corner, out of sight. Alec looked around, he was very sure that they were going to get caught but the idea of doing something adventurous seemed to well up in him. He needed to follow Magnus to get him back but he knew that what he was doing was technically illegal. He gathered up whatever courage he had left, looked around him to make sure no one was watching him and walked over the rope. 

The large square room was dark with side lights hanging over the paintings and sculptures to light them up. As he walked around as quietly as he could trying to find Magnus, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of danger. As if it was an automatic reaction, he brushed his hand on the side of his leg reaching for…..what…. he wasn’t sure. It was like it was ingrained in him to be aware and be prepared but all he had on him was his phone and wallet. He shook his head to realign his thoughts and carried on searching for Magnus. He couldn’t help noticing the paintings as he did. They were all biblical themed, a lot of them depicted angels helping the humans and demons torturing people in hell. A few were rather graphic but he nonetheless admired the work and attention to detail that would have gone into making these masterpieces. 

Alec finally found Magnus at the back staring at a large painting that was hung high above them. It was remarkable. He scanned the painting as he took in the image of an angel fighting a demon, possibly the devil himself in battle. Magnus looked transfixed at the painting while Alec secretly looked at the real marvel standing next to him. Okay, yes, after one supposed date and two awkward encounters in a book shop and coffee shop, Alec had realised that he had started to develop some feelings for Magnus. But how could he not? Magnus was gorgeous. He was smart, funny, adventurous and charismatic. All of the things that Alec had always said he wanted in a partner, and in the low lighting of the room they were in, he could see himself falling hard for this man. If only he knew if he felt the same way or not. He at least knew that Magnus was bi-sexual. He had been very open from the start about that so at least Alec had a chance, but maybe Magnus only saw Alec as a friend and not with the potential of being something more. 

“Found you” Alec whispered as Magnus turned to look at him smiling. 

“You did. Are you enjoying being adventurous?” Magnus smirked. 

Alec chuckled nudging Magnus’ shoulder in jest. “Indeed. It helps that I have a partner in crime with me” 

“It wouldn’t be any fun doing it on your own now would it?” Magnus chuckled as he turned to look up at the painting. “This is exquisite. You know, the history behind this painting is fascinating. There was a legend saying that Lucifer had always wanted to take over the mortal plane and whenever he tried, the archangel Michael was the one who managed to take him down and send him back to hell. Apparently the fights were brutal and lasted for days.” 

Alec nodded fascinated at the painting. “So who would those people in the background be do you think? More angels?” He asked pointing at the battle scene behind the main characters. One side were clearly depicted as horned demons but the opposing side looked more…..human?

Magnus shook his head. “No. Angels can’t come down to this plane so that would have been the nephilim helping him since they were part human and part angel.” 

Alec rolled his eyes. “As yes. I remember being told about the nephilim in my class.” 

Magnus smiled. “I remember you telling me. Apparently the nephilim were always there to help Michael vanquish the demon armies that Lucifer brought with him back to hell.” 

“How do you know so much about this stuff?” Alec asked curiously. 

“It’s all written down in the folklore history books. Pfft call yourself a historian and you don’t read up on the literature” Magnus joked as Alec nudged his shoulder again in mock disgust. 

“I’ll have you know that I read a lot of history thank you very much. Just not the folklore.” Alec looks up again at the painting. “Although this is beautiful.”

“It is.” Magnus said looking at Alec. “Thank you for doing this with me. It’s fun breaking the rules sometimes if you get a good outcome from it” 

Alec returns Magnus’ gaze smiling softly. “I couldn’t agree more.” 

They hold each other’s gazes for a moment or two. Alec looked Magnus up and down and admired the beautiful man in front of him. Feeling bold, Magnus reaches for Alec’s hand and links their fingers together. Alec smiled brightly squeezing Magnus’ hand tight, accepting the spark of electricity between their hands. Holding Magnus’ hand in his felt nice. Like their hands were made for each other. Alec wasn’t sure if it was the dark atmosphere or the fear of being caught where they were not supposed to be but excitement rang through Alec’s veins. He was standing here in this dark room, with only the lights off the walls to illuminate them. The lights danced off Magnus’ features, his eyes shining bright in the light showing the now familiar brown with a hint of gold in them and Alec knew he could easily get lost in them forever. As Alec turned to face Magnus, Magnus did the same, feeling the pull towards each other like a magnet. Alec looked down at Magnus’ inviting lips and wondered what it would be like to kiss them. Maybe Magnus would let him if he tried? 

Before Alec could finish the thought, Magnus brought a hand up to Alec’s face caressing his cheek lightly. Alec leaned into the embrace and decided to be bold and inch his face closer to Magnus’. Magnus closed the gap slowly and gently placed a kiss on Alec’s lips, as if asking if it was okay to do so. A spark lit up in Magnus immediately as the electricity surrounding them began to grow. Alec closed the gap again and pressed his lips more firmly to Magnus’. The kiss ignited something in Magnus’ bones and he moved both of his hands around Alec’s neck, his fingers gently running through his hair. The stars aligned in their eyes as the world fell away, lost in each other as their kiss grew with passion. Alec moved his hands to wrap around Magnus’ waist, gripping at the fabric of Magnus’ jacket to pull Magnus closer. Alec had kissed a few people before Magnus but it had never felt like this. He wanted to keep kissing Magnus for as long as he would let him. 

Before long, they both pulled apart, Magnus moving forward slightly to try and chase Alec’s lips for one more final kiss. Nothing needed to be said for that moment but both Magnus and Alec knew this was the start of something special and exciting. They both smiled at each other as they linked both of their hands together. 

“Want to get out of here?” Magnus asked softly while playing with his enclosed fingers around Alec’s. Alec smiled and pressed another chaste kiss to Magnus’ lips and nodded. 

“Yes” He confirmed, letting go of one of Magnus’ hands and carefully lead them out of the exhibition, making sure that they were not caught.


	8. chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discussions and dark plans deepen

A few weeks later, the sun had set over the city and the lights around Magnus Bane’s living room were glowing softly, gently illuminating the book he currently held in his hand. It was one of his favourites that he would read time and time again without getting bored. Dressed in a set of deep red silk pajama trousers and a matching silk dressing gown, Magnus welcomed the grey and white chequered woolen blanket across his lap. Once again he had reached his favourite part of the book. The main protagonist had just told the female lead who was under threat by some unknown evil that he loved her and was willing to do anything to protect her. Magnus smiled at the thought that he felt like he could tell Alexander the same thing. He was HIS Alexander and he knew inside that he had the power to risk everything for the chance of making him safe and happy. As Magnus snuggled into the blanket some more, he was brought out of his imaginative thoughts of the fictional world he had created in his head, when he heard a knock at his front door. Hating the idea of being disturbed at such a late hour, and while he was so comfortable at that, he groaned as he threw off the blanket and made his way to the front door hoping to make the person go away. 

As he opened the front door, a familiar black-haired female dressed in nurse’s scrubs came into view, making the idea of turning the intruder away disappear. 

“My dear Catarina. How are you?” Magnus beamed as he opened the door further to let Catarina in so she could take off her shoes and coat. As she slumped down in the sofa next to where Magnus was sitting, she let out a heavy sigh. 

“I just did a double shift so I’m exhausted.” She answered as she eyed the self-made bar on the other side of the room “Although one of your cocktails would go a long way to helping me feel better” 

Magnus laughed as he walked over to the bar and started to make her a martini. “That bad huh?” Magnus asked as he passed the drink to Catarina. 

She rolled her eyes as she took a sip. “I swear. People have no idea how to stay away from trouble. You would think that for a small town like this, there wouldn’t be any major drama. It’s almost as bad as when I lived in New York!” 

“Well at least you now have the next few days to relax and get yourself back to some form of normality.” Magnus joked as he sat down with his own drink in his hand.

Catarina hummed in agreement as she took another sip of her drink. “Speaking of normality. How’s this new man of yours?” She asked smirking. 

“Alexander?” Magnus asked nonchalantly “He’s fine. Things are going along nicely.” 

“You’ve been dating for what.. a few weeks now?” She asked finishing off her drink and placing the empty glass on the table. 

“A little over three weeks” Magnus clarified. 

Catarina nodded. “Right, and in all that time he hasn’t been suspicious at all of what you are?” 

Magnus shook his head. “Nope. I’ve managed to keep everything under control when we are together.” 

Catarina sighed. “Magnus. Why don’t you just tell him?”

“Because I don’t want to freak him out. He has already made it clear that he doesn’t believe in the supernatural and I am going to respect his beliefs.” Magnus argued

“But how are you going to explain to him, if this were to continue for this long, that you don’t age when he does?” 

Magnus scoffed. “I dye my hair and wear a lot of makeup. I think I can get away with looking my age for a lot longer than you think.” 

Catarina rolled her eyes. “Okay fine. But what if someone comes up to you and starts to talk to you about our world or asking you for your services? He is going to get suspicious at some point or another.” 

Magnus sighed resigned with the knowledge that he will have to admit his biggest secret to Alec at some point. 

“So what about the family? Have you met them yet?” Catarina asked 

Magnus nodded. “I have met his Mother a few times. She owns that bookshop on the high street where I normally do my research.” 

“So she knows about us?” Catarina asked quizzically 

Magnus nodded. “She at least knows about me, although not about myself and Alexander dating yet. She is nephilim, although I have a feeling that Alexander doesn’t know that. Otherwise he wouldn’t be denying the existence of the paranormal as much as he does. It’s not like she doesn’t hide it all that well. You can see the runes on her skin when she doesn’t cover them up in the summer.” 

“Maybe it’s a defence mechanism to make sure he stays in hiding?” She asked curiously. 

“No. that can’t be it. I haven’t seen any runes on him.” 

Catarina hummed curiously. “Doesn’t that bother you that Alec may not know about his own history?” 

Magnus scowled. “A little. But it is not my place to tell him. He needs to find out on his own if that is the case. I’m assuming his Father and his siblings are nephilim too so…. how did he become the anomaly?” 

Catarina sat there puzzled for a moment before answering. “Do you think something happened to him?” 

Magnus shook his head in wonder. “I don’t know. But whatever it is, it is not fair to Alexander and I want to find out.” 

“But wouldn’t that mean outing to his Mother that you are his boyfriend?” 

Magnus stilled at the thought. It’s not like Alec and Magnus wanted to keep their relationship quiet. They were just enjoying each other’s company without everyone else getting involved. Magnus coped his head to the side as he reasoned with himself. They had been dating for almost a month now. Maybe it was time to sneak in the fact that he would like to meet Alexander’s family and maybe get to the bottom of why Alec is the way he is? “You, Ragnor and Raphael know about our relationship. Maybe it’s time that we became public to his family?” Magnus concluded. 

Catarina smiled. “You’re normally very public with your relationships. This one must be special” 

Magnus smiled back, letting his eyes go glassy and wander, thinking about all of the times he has spent with Alexander so far with contentment. “He really is” 

“Then I’m happy for you old friend. But to go back to my original point. You need to tell him who you really are. If you feel the way you do, you need to tell him soon before you fully give your heart away and he ends up smashing it into pieces because he can’t handle it.” 

Magnus nodded as he took a final sip of his drink. “You’re right Catarina. I promise. I will tell him soon.” 

——xxxx——

Meanwhile across town, Valentine Morganstern was standing in his main chambers staring at a mirror. To the naked eye it was an ordinary antique mirror, but to anyone with an eye for detail knew better. It was full length, decorated in gold motifs with a mixture of nephilim and demonic runes. It was beautiful and anyone could tell that it would have taken a great deal of time to get the detailing correct. The glass was always clean, it never faded or chipped from use and Valentine was in awe of it. This was the source of everything that he had been planning. The answer to how he was going to rise to victory. 

Taking a sharp knife out of it’s holder on his thigh, Valentine carved a line across his hand, the blood slowly oozing out of the wound. It wasn’t deep enough to be dangerous but enough that without a healing rune gifted from the angels, it would scar. When Valentine was satisfied, he wiped the blood off the knife on his trouser leg with his uninjured hand and placed the knife back into the holder. Making sure his full image was in the mirror, he wiped the bloody hand across the mirror, right to left, and waited. The blood sunk into the mirror and as the mirrored glass faded away, a red vortex appeared in it’s place. The image of a man in a black suit appeared in the mirror and Valentine bowed his head in respect. 

“Why have you summoned me?” The man asked 

“My Lord. We are almost complete. We have the vampire and the werewolf. My men are currently devising a plan to take the warlock.” Valentine answered, repositioning himself to parade rest out of respect. 

“Excellent. But I must know who have you picked as the warlock?”

“His name is Ragnor Fell My Lord. He is currently hiding out in the local University as a history professor” Valentine answered, trying to take the sneering out of his tone. 

The man contemplated this for a moment before continuing. “I have a better warlock in mind. You see, this one is my grandson. I have intel that he is right here in Alicante.” 

Valentine nodded in conformation. “Yes My Lord. I shall send a team out to look for him instead.” 

The man smirked. “Good. Now remember this and remember it well. My grandson must not be harmed before the ritual. The reason my damn brother has managed to succeed my every attempt on this ghastly plane is because he has someone who is from his bloodline whom he can possess and survive it. This man is my only living relative and therefore, my one true chance of succeeding. As he is of my blood he will be able to survive the possession and be able to use my power to it’s full strength. Is that understood?”

Valentine nodded again. “Yes My Lord. What is the warlock’s name?” 

The man nodded. “His name is Magnus Bane.”


	9. chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Lightwood family fun

On one of the rare days off Alec had, you would always find him in the library of the Lightwood house if he wasn’t at his mother’s bookshop. It was his safe space. Somewhere where he could get lost in a book for hours without being disturbed. Today was like any other on his day off. He was currently curled up on a deep red chaise lounge reading one of his favourite books, the spine worn and the pages slightly curled on the edges from the amount of times Alec had read it. As he had just finished one particular chapter, Alec looked up and took a look at the room. He always felt comfortable in this room. It was dimly lit from the side lights on the walls with tall mahogany bookcases lining the walls. Opposite from the chaise lounge sat a writing desk which Alec liked to use often when he had wanted to get lost in his work and to his right was a bespoke fireplace, creating the only sound in the room from the crackling of the logs burning. He smiled contently. The room was small but it was his favourite. It felt like it was a whole world away from his family’s grandly decorated house. His own little world to get lost in. 

Taking a sip of his coffee before continuing his book, he was suddenly distracted by Jace walking into the room.

“Hey Alec. What are you up to?” Jace asked sitting on the other side of the chaise lounge, Alec’s feet resting against Jace’s thigh. 

Alec held up the book in response to show Jace. “Reading.” 

Jace chuckled. “Of course, what else is new.” 

Alec smiled. Was he that predictable? “What’s up Jace?” 

“Mum is planning a big family meal tomorrow. I was going to bring Clary, Izzy wants to invite Simon, Max wants to invite his friend Madzie and Mum wants to know if you want to invite someone.” Alec stilled in his spot. It wasn’t that he wasn’t ashamed of Magnus, but he still hadn’t told his family about him yet. They have been together for almost a month now so.. was it too soon for Magnus to meet this family? Jace noticed Alec’s hesitation. “What’s wrong?” Jace asked 

Alec looked at Jace, mouth half open, trying to work out the best way to tell him. Alec knew that Jace would be fine with it. He was fine with Alec’s other boyfriends so this shouldn’t be so much of a problem. Then why was he hesitating? Why was he worried that it wouldn’t go well? Would Magnus even say yes to being invited? “Jace I have to tell you something.” 

Jace turned in his position to face Alec head on, a frown appearing on his face. “Sure. Is everything okay?” 

Alec put down his book and coffee and sat up straight, facing Jace. “I’ve…. kind of been seeing someone.” 

Jace chuckled with relief. “Was that it? That’s great! Who is he?” 

“I don’t think you know him. His name is Magnus and we have been dating for about a month.” 

Jace’s eyes widened. “A month? Well that explains why you have been out so much lately. Why didn’t you tell any of us about him?” 

Alec shook his head. “It’s not that I didn’t want to. I was just enjoying being just… us you know? No other ties.” 

“I get it. You wanted to see where things were going before you did the whole ‘let’s meet the family’ situation.” Jace answered. 

Alec nodded. “Yes. Exactly. But… now I think it is the right time. We’ve been going out for a month and he is so great and I really like him. I think you all would really like him too. I just didn’t want you guys to meet him and then we split up.” 

Jace beamed. “That’s great! Invite him to dinner with us. Then he has met all of us in one go, it’s an informal setting and we can get to know him properly.” 

“Thanks for being understanding Jace.” Alec smiled placing a hand on Jace’s shoulder. 

Jace placed his hand on top. “What are brothers for eh? Come on. Mum wants us to help make dinner tonight. Ring him and ask him to come. I’m sure Mum would love to meet him” With that, Jace got up and commented before leaving the room. “By the way. Izzy is going to kill you that I found out about him first. You know that right?” 

Alec laughed as he pulled out his phone and dialled Magnus’ number. On the third ring Magnus answered. 

“Hello Alexander.” He greeted. 

“Hey Magnus. How are you?” 

“I’m good. Currently trying to make something for my apothecary class and it is driving me insane. The mixture is meant to be purple but for some reason I accidentally turned it bright pink!” 

Alec laughed. “I’m sure you will make it work.” Alec smiled as he heard Magnus laugh. There was no other sound on this earth that Alec liked to hear more. “Listen. What are your plans for tomorrow evening?” 

“I’ll check my diary” Alec loved that Magnus was old fashioned and kept a hand written diary with him rather than making notes on his phone like everyone else did. “I am free. What did you have in mind?” 

Alec took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “Well, my Mother is holding a big family dinner and we have been told that we can bring someone. My brother and sister are bringing their other halves and my youngest brother is bringing a friend so I was wondering…. if you would like to be my date and join me?” 

Alec’s heart sat in his throat when Magnus took a moment to reply, the silence on the other line deafening. “That sounds wonderful. I would love to join you. Do they… know about me yet?”

“My brother Jace does. I just told him. He was the one who suggested I invite you actually.” 

“Oh!” Magnus exclaimed. “Well then please tell Jace thank you for considering me. I can’t wait to meet them all tomorrow. I shall be there with bells and whistles on.” 

“Please not literally Magnus” Alec admonished, knowing full well how eccentric Magnus had been known to dress before. 

Magnus laughed. “You’re so cute when you’re serious. Of course I won’t. I look forward to it.” 

Alec smiled. “I’ll talk to you later Magnus.” Hanging up the phone and placing it into his back pocket so he could go to the kitchen, Alec greeted his family with a broad grin. His mother Maryse and Jace were at the kitchen island dicing chicken while Isabelle and Max were on clean up duty (it is a well known secret that Izzy can not cook well so she is never left alone near food for the fear of giving everyone horrendous food poisoning like she did three years ago). 

“Well someone seems happy.” Maryse said giving Alec a kiss on the cheek before giving him an apron and a pile of vegetables to cut. 

“I’m just happy Mum.” 

“Are you sure? I haven’t seen you smile this much recently since we gave you your first bow and arrow set. You didn’t put it down for weeks and was begging to be out in the garden all day long.” 

Alec blushed and shrugged his shoulders. “I was 7 and I loved robin hood. What did you expect?” Everyone laughed at the memory although Alec couldn’t help but notice a little frown appear on his mother’s face. It was like there was more to the story than Alec realised. It wasn’t the first time she had this expression on her face from when he brought up memories but he had learnt to let it go. He was sure his mother would tell him when she was ready.

“So…” Alec started trying to change the subject. “Have you heard from Dad lately, he hasn’t called me in weeks.” It was an controversial topic but it was a different topic nonetheless. Alec’s Father, Robert, was in the army and currently out on tour. As far as he knew he was the only one that Robert spoke to. Maryse would on the odd occasion hear from his platoon officer about where Robert had been placed on assignment but Robert hadn’t been home for years. As soon as Maryse and Robert had made their divorce official, Alec had not seen Robert since, only heard from him on the phone for short conversations when Robert had the time. He knew the subject was tough for his Mother but as far as he knew, she kept the peace with him for their children’s sake. 

Maryse sighed heavily. Alec inwardly winced. He knew he shouldn’t have brought up his Father infront of her but having no contact from his Father for weeks at a time when he was in a dangerous war zone was starting to concern him. 

“I haven’t. But I guess no news is good news. I haven’t heard anything recently.” Alec nodded as he continued to cut up some carrots and throwing them into a pot, knowing that the subject matter was finished. Maryse shook her head and smiled at Alec. “Anyway. I’m sure Jace told you about the dinner we are having tomorrow night. Have you thought about who you would like to bring? Maybe a friend from your class?” Maryse asked as she placed the diced chicken into a large casserole dish. 

“Oh come on Mum. Alec doesn’t have any friends, unless you count his books” Jace joked, causing Maryse to lightly tap his arm in protest. 

“Be nice to your brother. It’s good that he is serious about his studies.”

“Unlike someone else we know who would rather be chasing a certain red head around the town” Izzy quipped.

“I’ll have you know I don’t chase her. I’m just being a good boyfriend.” Jace argues 

“Poor Clary” Max jokes making everyone laugh. 

“So Alec” Maryse interjected “Are you going to invite anyone?” 

Alec suddenly felt like he was in the middle of a stage, naked with a spotlight on only him. He felt all of their eyes on him, waiting for his answer. He subtly looked at Jace who gave him a small nod of encouragement. He could do this. “Actually. I would like to invite someone. I’ve already asked them and they said they would love to come. I’m sorry if that was a little presumptuous”

Maryse beamed “No. Not at all. That’s great! Who is it?” 

Alec looked around the room at his family and blushed. Why was this making him so nervous? “It’s um….. a guy that I’ve kind of been seeing for a month.” 

The noise of a nuclear explosion had nothing on the screams and questions bombarding Alec from the family in reply. Jace just looked at him apologetically as if to say ‘I feel your pain’ while Alec stared at him in sheer panic. Jace had something similar when he told the family he was initially dating Clary. Their replies were coming in so fast that Alec couldn’t work out what to answer first and who was asking it. 

“Who is it?” 

“I’m so happy for you!” 

“A whole month?” 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” 

“What’s his name?” 

“How did you meet?”

“Have you kissed him yet?” 

“Have you got a picture?” 

“Woah! Hold on!” Alec laughed as the questions died down. “His name is Magnus. We met at the bookshop, yes we have kissed, no you can not see a picture of him and I didn’t want to say anything until I knew this was more than a... one time thing” 

Maryse hugged Alec in elation. “Oh Alec. I’m so happy for you. I think I know who that man is already but I can’t wait to meet him properly!” 

“Thanks Mum. He is excited to meet you all too. But you all have to promise to hold off on the third degree please. I don’t want to scare him away” Alec explained looking at everyone seriously. 

Jace held three fingers up in the air in salute. “Scouts honour. We will behave. I promise. It’s nice that we now know where you have been all time while you have been ‘working late’” Jace answered holding his fingers in air quotes. Alec smiled in response. He really hoped he could hold his family to it. 

The following afternoon was filled with preparations for the meal. Alec, Maryse and Jace spent their time in the kitchen preparing the meal while Maryse got Izzy and Max to clean the house, making sure that they were as far away from the kitchen as possible. They were willing to risk their stomachs with Izzy’s cooking, but not their guests. Clary was the first to arrive wearing a slimline deep red scrappy dress with matching heels, her red hair loosely tousled. Jace was beside himself when Clary arrived, immediately turning into the perfect gentlemen before his family’s gaping eyes immediately offering her his seat in the living room and grabbing her a drink. Jace and Clary may have been together for years, but Jace had never been one to show his romantic side in front of his family. Simon was next to arrive, dressed in a fitted dark navy suit and black shirt, making Alec feel silently relieved that he was not entirely over-dressed in his dark grey suit and royal blue tie that Izzy insisted he wore. 

Madzie arrived 15 minutes later wearing a silver dress and leggings, her dark hair falling softly down her back. Alec had to quietly tap Max on the back to force him to shut his open jaw and to stop staring. The rest of the Lightwoods, Clary and Simon almost couldn’t contain their grins and coos as Max went up to Madzie and gave her a peck on the cheek as he fought the blush on his cheeks to tell her she looked pretty. 

When the door bell rang not long after Madzie’s arrival, Alec’s heart leapt into his throat as all of the Lightwood eyes landed on him. This was it. This was the moment that Magnus would meet his family. He really hoped that it went well tonight and that they liked him.


	10. chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus meets the family, declarations and a Clace surprise!

Alec looked around the living room as all of the eyes landed on him. Magnus was here. This was the moment he had been waiting for all night. Nodding his head in determination, he escapes the room and walks towards the front door taking a deep breathe in before opening the door. Nothing could have prepared Alec for the sight in front of him. Magnus was a vision in a black with large white polka dotted shirt, black waistcoat and black slacks. It was simple and elegant but it had the stylistic flair that Alec had gotten to know and love. He could tell that Magnus, probably in a feat of either fear or wanting to be liked tonight, had toned it down a little, but the subtle amount of glitter, makeup and his nails painted black to match his outfit made enough of a statement. To Alec, he looked perfect. So perfect that it threw Alec off for a moment or two because thoughts had escaped his mind. Words had stopped coming out of his mouth. Magnus was a vision and as much as Alec would like to compliment the beautiful man in front of him, he just…. couldn’t. Alec.exe had stopped working. 

Magnus luckily had noticed Alec’s tiny moment of panic and swooped in to save the day with a trademark, all teeth beaming grin. 

“Hey handsome. I’ll take your silence as a good thing?” Magnus joked. 

Alec shook his head, rearranging his thoughts. Come on Alec. You can do this. Speak! 

“Magnus. Uh….Thanks for coming. You look amazing. Come in.” Alec answered nervously opening the door fully so Magnus could step inside. As he did, Magnus looked around him and took in the opulence of the room, from the tall white walls, to the grand staircase leading upstairs. This place definitely was….something. As someone who grew up living his life in multiple foster homes after his Mother and Step-Father died, this would be considered heaven to him. To think that Alec grew up in a place like this that was this grand, he would have thought that Alec had every right to behave like he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Instead, he found Alexander to be the complete opposite, which was rather refreshing. 

“You have a beautiful home.” Magnus commented as he took in one of the beautiful landscape paintings to his right. 

Alec smiled. “Thanks. But it’s my Mother’s house. I haven’t lived here in years. I’m only here to finish my studies and then I am moving back to New York.” 

“Oh.” Magnus said trying not to show his disappointment. “How long have you got left of your studies?” 

“I still have a few years. Don’t worry. You can’t get rid of me that easily.” Alec joked making Magnus turn towards Alec and place his palms on his chest, placing a swift kiss on his lips. 

“Good to know.” Magnus smirked a little as he noticed Alec’s blush appearing fast on his cheeks. “So, is everyone here?” 

That seemed to bring Alec out of his thoughts. “Uh… Yeah. My two brothers, my sister, my mother and their other halves are all in the living room. They are dying to meet you after I told them all about you yesterday”

Magnus beamed taking Alec’s hand. “Well then. We’d best not keep them waiting any longer.” With that, Alec led Magnus into the living room, introducing Magnus to his family one by one. Isabelle, as expected, was extremely excited to meet Magnus and was immediately keen to talk about his choice of clothes and makeup. Within minutes, they had scheduled a shopping date for the following week. 

Izzy’s boyfriend Simon was a little nervous but was polite when meeting Magnus, opting to give him a handshake. Magnus couldn’t help but notice Simon’s unnaturally cold hands, making a mental note for later. It looked like there is more to this family than Magnus realised. 

Meeting Madzie and Max was adorable. They both were so excited to meet Magnus. Max and Madzie both shook Magnus’ hand, despite Magnus revealing that he already knew Madzie since his friend Catarina was her Mother. Magnus smiled at them both and winked at Madzie as their hand’s touched, a spark of familiarity and understanding felt between the pair. 

Jace and Clary were next. Clary gave Magnus a hug as soon as she could earning a large grin from Magnus. Jace gave Magnus a handshake and promised to do the ‘brother speech’ another time once they got to know each other more making Magnus laugh. He could tell that Alec’s family were definitely protective of Alec. 

Finally, Magnus got introduced to Maryse. He could tell that she was a little on the back foot with Magnus, especially after knowing who and what he was from previously meeting him at the bookshop. Instead of a hug, Maryse opted for a handshake and small smile. Magnus suspected that there might be another conversation to be had with Alexander’s mother at a later date when Alec wasn’t in the room. Maybe he could confront her in her shop. It was ground where she had the upper hand but he was willing to do that for Alexander. 

After all of the introductions had been made, they made their way to the large dark mahogany dining table which had been extended to fit the extra guests. Everyone sat next to their relevant partners with Maryse sitting at the head of the table, Jace to her left and Alec to her right. It was almost uniform the way that the Lightwoods sat themselves down at the table, like a hierarchy going from oldest to youngest down the table, with Max and Madzie sitting at the other end of the table to Maryse. The table had already been laid out with the food in the middle of the table so everyone could put onto their plate the relevant size portion they desired. As soon as Maryse had given the say so, everyone starting piling food onto their plates and started eating, sounds of appreciation and cutlery hitting porcelain surrounding the room. 

“So Magnus. Tell us, what do you do?” Asked Maryse. 

“I’m currently studying thermaturgy at the University. It’s the study of magic and potion making, if you believe in that sort of thing.” Magnus explained casually adding in the comment of disbelief for Alec’s benefit. 

“And how long are you studying it for?” Maryse asked trying to sound interested. 

“It’s sort of a life long study but this course is for another few years. I’ve always found this sort of thing interesting to me, especially with the historical connotations linked to it.” 

Maryse pursed her lips. “Yes. Well, in a town like Alicante, there are quite a few people like yourself who are… unique and enjoy those types of studies.”

“Maybe you can help with Alec with his paper then?” Jace suggested. “He’s writing about the history of Alicante but he refuses to study the mythical side related to it.” 

“I’m sure Alec doesn’t need to cover that side of things in his paper.” Maryse answered tersely. “There is enough history in this town without all of that being involved.” ‘Or me being involved’ Magnus thought noticing Maryse’s aversions. “So, tell us about your family. Are you here on your own?” Maryse asked.

Alec stiffened. He knew this conversation would come up but he felt the need to protect Magnus from such a delicate subject. “Mum, I don’t think Magnus would want to-“ 

“No. It’s okay” Magnus smiled in his direction placing a hand on Alec’s in support, his eyes softening. It felt nice that Alec wanted to protect him but he knew that the past was the past and he couldn’t hide from it. “I never knew my Father. He left my Mother and myself when I was a baby. My Mother and Step-Father both died a long time ago. It’s just me and my friends who I made my own little family with.” 

Izzy smiled in sympathy. “That's nice that you have managed to find a family to call your own.” Magnus couldn’t help but smile at that. He had a feeling he would get on great with Izzy and this all but confirmed it. Apart from Maryse, they all seemed to be rather sympathetic and understanding. Magnus looked around the table and noticed the runes tattooed on everyone’s skin as they eat apart from Alexander’s. Magnus had to stop himself from imagining Alec covered in those familiar tattoos. He knew he needed to get down to the answer of why Alec was so…different from his family so he decided to push his inquiry. 

“So, can I ask something? I’ve noticed that you all are covered in tattoos. Is that a family thing? How come you haven’t got any Alexander?” Alec blanched at the question while everyone paused momentarily. Magnus inwardly cowered in on himself. Maybe he gone too far? 

Alec shook his head while everyone glared eyes in Alec’s direction, keen on knowing his answer. “They are a family tradition but I’ve never really been one for tattoos. I don’t understand the need for them to be permanently on their skin but I like them, especially with the meanings behind each one. I just don’t think they would look good on me.” 

Magnus smirked “Well I don’t know about that. Maybe that one on Izzy’s neck that looks like a ‘z’ would look good on you” Magnus inwardly smiled as he thought that it would be amazing to lick on his neck. 

“Nope. Sorry.”Alec laughed causing everyone to calm down. “Not for me I’m afraid.” Magnus found it interesting. Alec was so different from his family. It was like he pushed away everything that was related to his family. Like he didn’t want to be reminded of it somehow. 

Magnus decided to let it go for the moment and tried to enjoy the evening. After changing the subject to something more neutral, the rest of the evening went swimmingly. It wasn’t long before the sun had set so after they had finished their dinner, they all headed out into the back garden to enjoy the stars and carry on their conversations. Alec and Jace had gone back inside to gather everyone some more drinks before suddenly, fairy lights were turned on dusting the large back garden. Everyone looked in awe as lights decorated all of the trees and the bushes, all seeming to lead a path to the small white gazebo on the other side of the garden. Nobody moved from their chairs, instead looking at each other as if this wasn’t a normal occurrence. Looking around for Alexander to explain what’s going on, he noticed that Jace and Alexander were standing in the entrance to the house, Alec beaming at Jace and placing a supportive hand on his shoulder. With a wink, he sat down next to where Magnus was sitting and clasped his hand before whispering his ear. “All will be explained in a minute.” 

With that cryptic answer from Alec, everyone’s eyes went to Jace who took a deep breath and walked towards Clary who was looking at Jace confused. “Can I borrow you for a minute?” 

“Jace? What’s going on?” Clary asked as she took his hand and stood up, following him along the lighted path to the gazebo. Simon was about to follow them but Alec put a hand out to stop him and silently shook his head. Izzy immediately gasped, placing a hand over her mouth. She seemed to have worked out what was happening and whispered into Simon’s ear who went wide-eyed in response. After knowing that Simon wasn’t going to move, Alec placed his head on Magnus’ shoulder, placing a kiss on his cheek. Magnus was in awe. The view was so beautiful. It was like a romantic scene from a movie playing infront of him. All he could do was sit and watch as everyone gasped the second Jace dropped down to one knee in front of a standing Clary, who had now placed her hands in front of her face. Whether she was crying or not he couldn’t tell but he knew that if he was in her position, he probably would have been. Cheers and applause erupted as everyone caught Clary nodding her head to Jace’s proposal, not being able to hear what he was saying, his intentions however clear. 

Magnus turned to look at Alec. “You knew didn’t you?” 

Alec nodded beaming with pride at his brother who was currently hugging a clearly emotional Clary. “He told me about this yesterday and we spent most of last night making sure it was all put together. We kept it a secret from everyone. Mum didn’t even know. It took a lot to psyche him up to do this just now so I’m glad he actually did it. He was so nervous.” 

“Are you secretly a romantic at heart?” Magnus quipped in mock horror while stealing a quick kiss from Alec while no one was looking. 

Alec smirked. “I don’t know. Maybe one day you may find out” 

Magnus beamed. “I look forward to it.” 

Magnus and Alec couldn’t move their eyes away from each other as the others ran to embrace the couple who had come back. Alec stole a glance at Jace who he could tell was so happy and proud in this moment. He knew that if he ended up feeling even a tenth of that with Magnus, he would forever be a happy man. “Thank you for coming tonight. This really meant the world to me that you were here for this.” 

Magnus smiled. “It’s been an honour Alexander. I’ve had a wonderful night and now, we have more reason to celebrate.” He answered tilting his head towards the newly engaged couple. 

Alec startled a moment, trying to find the right words to say, before he took a breath and blurted it out. “I know that this is probably because of what has just happened and I’m kind of caught up in the moment but right now I want to tell you something and I want you to know that in my heart I have never meant it more with you than I ever have before anybody else.” 

Magnus had an idea on where this was going, but he let Alec carry on anyway. He knew that if he was right, he was ready to say it too. It had been building up inside him for over a week, waiting for the right moment for it to come out. 

“I love you Magnus.” 

Magnus softened his eyes, his smile broadening “I love you too Alexander.” He answered leaning forward to kiss Alec.

As the night continued, Magnus beamed with pride all night. Alec loved him. He loved Alec. There was no doubt about it. This man who he had not known for long has made him so happy that he can’t seem to see a bad side to this relationship. With that thought, Magnus had made his decision. He was going to come clean with Alec very soon and reveal his biggest secret.


	11. chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec gets into trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this chapter, please know that everything is going to be fine! 
> 
> Please don't hate me! Please don't hate Alec! I promise it all works out!!

It was a late night before Alec left his final class for the day. The sun had started to set, the snow fall from last night had finally settled on the ground and the paths were icy. As Alec took in the beautiful scenery around him that the snow made, his phone started to ring in his pocket. Pulling it out and reading the name on the screen, Alec couldn’t help the smile appearing on his face as he pulled the phone to his ear to answer the call. 

“Hey Magnus” Alec answered

“Alexander. How are you? Have you finished for today?” 

Alec sighed in relief. “I have finally. That last class dragged on for hours. Mr Fell kept going on and on, I thought his lesson would never end.” Alec smirked as he heard Magnus laugh in response. 

“Yes. Ragnor is one for whittling on about nothing. I’d better have a word with him about keeping his students engaged.” Magnus joked. 

“No don’t you dare! If you do he will know it’s coming from me!” Alec argued back making Magnus laugh. 

“Don’t worry darling I won’t. Anyway, I was wondering what your plans were for tomorrow night?” 

Alec smiled. “I haven’t got any. Probably just dinner with the family and then go to bed. Nothing exciting.” 

“Wonderful! How about dinner with me instead? There is something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Alec frowned “Have I done something wrong?” 

“Oh no! Not at all” Magnus defended. “I just want to discuss something with you but I didn’t want to do it over the phone. It’s more of a face to face kind of conversation.” 

“Alright then. Then I’ll meet you tomorrow at yours after I finish class and we can head out after?” 

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll leave you to your thoughts on your walk home then. Text me when you are home?” Magnus asked 

“Of course. I’ll talk to you later Magnus.” Alec switched off the call and put his phone back into his pocket.

As Alec continued to walk home, the thoughts of his last lecture were in his head. Mr Fell had discussed more mythical folklore today discussing ancient creatures again and despite Alec wanting to fall asleep to alleviate a headache that was forming throughout the discussion, he did find some of the notes interesting. As he tightened his coat to protect himself from the cold air, he wondered which creature he would have preferred to have been if given a choice. Being a vampire didn’t sound great considering they had to hide from the sun and live on a diet of blood, being a werewolf didn’t seem so bad. You were still mortal and the idea of turning into a wolf sounded cool. But he decided he would be either a warlock or a nephilim. The idea of being able to do magic at the drop of a hat and being immortal was the most appealing but something in him drew to the idea of being a nephilim. They were bad-ass warriors who had powers gifted from the angels! Alec had never held a sword in his life but he did like archery. Maybe he would have been an archer fighting demons and sending them back to hell. 

Shaking his head and laughing at his own thoughts, Alec focused on his walk home, wondering what Magnus wanted to talk about tomorrow. Magnus didn’t sound worried and he said that it wasn’t something bad. Maybe he was going to graduate from his course early? As Alec passed the main square in the town to make his way to the winding streets leading to the house, he felt a chill run down his spine. He kept feeling a presence to his right but every time he looked in that direction, all he saw was another dark shadow in the corner of his eye. He had learnt to ignore them in the past but something told him that this shadow was not one to ignore. So he fastened his paces, making sure he got home as quickly as possible, but as luck would have it, he slipped on a bit of ice and fell forward onto the floor. He heard ringing in his ears as he put a head to his hand. Pulling the hand away he noticed that he was bleeding. Great. Just what he needed. He gave himself a moment to evaluate himself noticing that his head hurt a little but not to the point where he thought he might have a concussion and moved to attempt to get himself to stand again. 

“Are you okay?” A man shouted from behind Alec “I saw you fall. Do you need a hand up?” Alec looked up to see a pale-faced Italian man with dark hair holding his hand out to him. He had not seen this man before, and considering Alicante is a small town where everyone knows everyone, that’s saying something. Maybe he had recently moved here? 

“Thank you” Alec said accepting the man’s help as he got himself upright again. 

The man smiled “You’re welcome. It’s too late to be out here on your own. You might have been out here for a while before someone found you.” 

“I’m fine. I just slipped on a bit of ice.” Alec dismissed. 

“I can see that” The man said pointing to the blood on Alec’s forehead pausing for a moment before commenting “You smell amazing, you know” 

Alec looked back shocked. Well that was forward. “Um. Thank you I guess. I’m going to go home now. Thank you for helping me up” 

Alec nodded his thanks to the man and started to walk away when the man chased after him, stopping him in his tracks. “Now now. We can’t have you walking home on your own now can we? It’s cold out, why don’t you join me for a drink? I’m sure you would like to warm up a little no?” The man waved his hand in front of Alec’s vision in a slow circular motion. Alec found the action odd. He thought the guy must be one of those who liked to talk with his hands, but suddenly as much as he wanted to protest and go home, something in him wanted to take the man up on his offer. On getting a better look at the guy he seemed to be quite good looking and after all, wasn’t it polite to thank someone after they have just helped you? 

“Uh. Yeah sure.” Alec nodded with a small smile “That would be great.” 

The man smiled. “Excellent. Let’s go.” 

Alec followed the man, who he still didn’t know the name of, to a bar nearby. Alec looked up to see the name Hardtail in brandished letters over the entrance of what looks like a car garage that had been converted to a club. The bar had an industrial theme throughout with all of the tables and surroundings being made out of a light coloured metal. He guessed it was a part of the aesthetic of the place and surprisingly didn’t make the place feel cold. The man sat Alec down in one of the booths near the back as he went off to the bar to get some drinks. Alec didn’t know what had gotten over him. He was never like this. He never was one to go to a random place with a person he had only just met, let alone one he didn’t know the identity of yet. A few minutes later, the guy sat down next to Alec with a glass of what Alec suspected to be water and a glass of red wine. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know whether you drank or not but I thought you might want this.” The guy commented, pushing the glass towards Alec. He took a sip confirming it was a sweet flavoured water. It was nice. He had never tried anything that taste so nice before. For a minute or two, they continued to talk. Eventually the guy revealed his name was Emmanuel. He had arrived here from out of town and was only staying for a short while visiting family. He seemed nice and friendly enough. Alec was instantly relieved as they continued to talk. The more Alec drunk his water and talked to Emmanuel, the more comfortable he felt around him. He even started to think of him as attractive. Alec could tell that Emmanuel was not shy. Soon enough, Emmanuel was openly flirting with Alec, moving a hand here and there, touching his hand, his knee, his arm. Something in the back of Alec’s mind was screaming at him to get out of there. There was another person in his mind that just didn’t seem to want to present himself. Someone that Alec loved, but the more Alec looked into Emmanuel’s eyes, the more the thoughts of anyone else faded. Alec didn’t know what came over him but he loved the attention Emmanuel was giving him. He felt wanted. Like he himself was attractive and worth this man’s time. After a few more drinks, he heard his phone ring in his pocket. He went to go and pick it up and see who was calling him when Emmanuel stopped him by placing a hand over the phone, blocking the screen from Alec’s view and staring intensely into Alec’s eyes. 

“Whoever it is can wait. I’m sure they will leave a message if they want to get a hold of you so badly.” Normally Alec would have excused himself to answer the call but he couldn’t help but obey what Emmanuel was saying. So he put his phone back in his pocket and ignored the constant ringing in his pocket. Emmanuel was right. Whoever it was can wait. Alec was finding Emmanuel fascinating. He was beautiful. Soft Italian skin, although quite pale, dark loosely curled hair that fell to his shoulders, highlighting the sharp features of his face, bringing attention to his amazing jawline and the most vibrantly blue coloured eyes Alec had ever seen. Alec didn’t notice when he slowly shifted his position in the booth more towards Emmanuel, inviting Emmanuel’s advances. Nothing in the room mattered at that moment but him and Emmanuel. The world could have gone to hell and he would not have noticed. He couldn’t move his eyes away from the beautiful man. 

Soon enough, Alec decided to be bold and started to flirt back. He first thing decided to copy Emmanuel’s advances and move his hand subtly to Emmanuel’s knee. Emmanuel smiled as he noticed the gesture and took it as a sign that Alec had finally succumb to his advances. He moved his head slowly to Alec’s and pressed a soft kiss to Alec’s lips. Alec’s senses ignited as he closed his eyes to embrace this feeling. The man’s lips were cold but the kiss felt amazing! He had kissed a few guys before but never like this. Something deep in his mind kept telling him to run away but somehow, he knew that he couldn’t. This.. connection felt so real. He knew that they had only just met but a part of him knew that he needed to embrace this feeling. As they lazily kissed each other, Emmanuel gently moved his hand to one side of Alec’s neck and moved his lips to the other side. Alec moved his head so Emmanuel could reach his neck more easily as Emmanuel began to kiss his neck. Alec had closed his eyes, lost in the pleasure of the moment until, he felt a sharp prick on the side of his neck. He wanted to move from the immediate pain but it was instantly replaced with a wave of pleasure that coursed through him, causing Alec to roll his eyes back behind his closed eyes as Emmanuel began to suck on his neck. Alec was never one for kinks but he liked whatever Emmanuel was doing. He rolled his eyes back as the pleasure took over him, to the point where he felt a tear run down his cheek. 

Emmanuel moved away from Alec’s neck to face him with a broad grin. Alec noticed that Emmanuel’s mouth looked a little red but Alec guessed that was from them making out. Emmanuel chuckled sinisterly. “You’ve been holding out on me nephilim. I can’t see any runes on you but your blood, it tastes so heavenly. Where have you been?” 

Alec didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say. If he had been more sound of mind he would have been confused and questioned what Emmanuel was saying but in his frame of mind right now, he didn’t care. He saw it as a declaration and kissed Emmanuel again. Once again Emmanuel moved to Alec’s neck, kissing and sucking what Alec assumed was a hickey on his neck, and stayed there while Alec enjoyed the feeling. Soon Alec started to feel a little light-headed. His head started to roll as the room began to spin. But once again he found that he didn’t care. He didn’t care that he was in a club full of strangers and making out with a guy that he had just met. All he cared about was this pleasure he was feeling from Emmanuel right now. 

“Alec!” A sound from a distance shouted to him, but he was too far gone in his mind to really notice. Emmanuel moved away and Alec moaned at the missing presence. He opened his eyes to find a wide eyed Jace and Izzy staring at the pair of them in the booth. “Step away from my brother” Jace shouted over the music. 

“Relax. I’m just getting to know this amazing man here.” Emmanuel said as he placed a hand on Alec’s cheek, moving him to slump his head on Emmanuel’s shoulder. “It’s okay Alec. They are just leaving. Close your eyes for a minute. I’ll be right with you.” Unable to refuse, Alec did. He kept his head on Emmanuel’s shoulder as they continued to talk, Alec only hearing in the distance what was being said. He was too wrapped up in the man next to him. 

“Let him go. I don’t want anyone getting hurt” Izzy said 

“It’s alright. We’re just getting to know each other. Alec was just thanking me for helping him up when he fell over earlier. He smelled so delicious, I couldn’t help myself.” Emmanuel answered

“By drinking his blood?” Jace retorted. Wait what? Alec lazily opened his eyes slightly to see two blurry black figures in front of him who he guessed were Jace and Izzy. 

“Oh come on now. You say it so crassly. He’s enjoying himself, I’m catching a light dinner. No harm, no fowl. He was clearly enjoying himself until you two showed up.” Emmanuel chastised. 

“I’m sure he was. Now let him go before your leader finds out you have been drinking from someone who was unwilling.” Jace commented tersely. 

“Oh I think you will find he gave up his neck willingly.” Emmanuel answered snidely. “But fine. If you want to then you can have him. You two have killed the mood.” Emmanuel sat Alec up right and looked right at him, placing a hand on his cheek. Alec nestled his head in the soft embrace enjoying the contact. “I’m sorry my dear, but I need to go. Tonight was fun. Call me if you want another drink sometime.” 

“Somehow I doubt he will.” Izzy answered flatly as Emmanuel got up to leave. Alec looked after him longingly. “Emmanuel? Where did he go?”

Izzy sat down next to Alec in Emmanuel’s place. “Are you okay?” 

“Where did he go?” Alec asked looking around the room for the man in question before catching his head in his hand. “Why is the room spinning?” 

“It’s okay big brother. Let’s get you home.” Izzy answered placing a quick kiss on Alec’s head. Right yes. Home. Where Alec was meant to be going home before he met Emmanuel. Izzy helped Alec stand up but like he was drunk, Alec started to sway before Jace caught him around the waist. 

“Can you walk?” Jace asked as he helped Alec out of the club. 

“I’m not sure” Alec slurred. But as soon as the cold air hit him as they existed the club, Alec felt his head spin even faster. He left like he was going to be sick, his senses going into over drive. Before he knew it, Izzy shouted out as Alec’s eyes rolled back into his head and the world went black.


	12. chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Down the rabbit hole we go......

_“He was encantoed by a vampire on the way home. We found him in the Hardtail club half out of it while the vampire was drinking his blood”_

_“Shouldn’t his runes have helped him with that?”_

_“His runes haven’t been active for years. They would have stopped working since they have been dormant for so long.”_

_“He needs to know Jace. How are we going to explain this to him?”_

_“How about we wait until he wakes up and see what he remembers first. Then we can work from there.” ___

__Alec groaned as he came back to consciousness. He moved a hand to his head to help alleviate the headache that was forming. What the hell happened last night? How did he get home? He slowly opened his eyes to find Jace, Izzy and his mother standing in his room whispering to each other. Izzy was the first to notice Alec’s state._ _

__“Alec. You’re awake.” She said sitting one side of his bed. “How are you feeling?”_ _

__“What happened last night?” Alec asked as he sat up in bed._ _

__“That’s what we want to know buddy. What do you remember about last night?” Jace asked. Alec thought back to what he could remember._ _

__“I was walking back from class and I tripped on some ice. This…guy came and helped me up and invited me to join him for a drink. I don’t know why but I thought I should take him up on his offer but… it all gets a little hazy from there.”_ _

__Jace, Izzy and his mother collectively seemed to relax from that. “Well it seems you can’t handle your drink Alec. When you didn’t come home for dinner and you didn’t answer your phone, Mum sent us out to find you. Luckily we found you at a club and brought you home.”_ _

__Alec nodded slowly. Well that explained the headache. He moved his hand from his pounding head and down the side of neck and paused. He felt a bit of material at the side of his neck. “What happened?”_ _

__Jace’s eyes went wide as if at a loss for words. “When you fell you must have hit your neck on something. It was bleeding a lot.”_ _

__Alec could always tell when Jace was lying and he was sure this was one of those moments, but he wasn’t going to argue it right now. He felt awful. Suddenly flashbacks appeared in his head in small doses. Falling over and feeling the blood on his head. Talking to Emmanuel, him coming on to him but doing nothing about it. Kissing Emmanuel! Oh by the angel! He kissed another guy and what was worse he liked it! He hadn’t thought about Magnus at all in that moment and had let the man kiss him! What was he going to say to Magnus? How could he let the guy do this to him? It was like Emmanuel was… intoxicating. Like the guy made him forget everything! A heavy pit of despair hit Alec hard as he had realised that he had cheated on his boyfriend last night! He felt so awful. Even in his previous relationships, he promised he would never cheat on anyone and somehow he had let it happen last night._ _

__Despite all of that, something else stuck out to Alec right in that moment._ _

__“I remember you coming to get me.” Jace and Izzy looked at each other worried. “Why did you say he was drinking my blood?” He asked Jace._ _

__Jace’s eyes widened even more. “It was… just an expression. Don’t worry about it”_ _

__“The guy called me nephilim.” Alec answered lowly._ _

__“Well that’s a new one. I’ve never heard a pick up line like that before” Jace laughed. Alec soon realised that he probably wasn’t going to get a serious answer from Jace right now so he dropped the subject for now. Small things were slowly piecing together. The guy had called him nephilim, he had heard someone say that he didn’t have ‘runes’? He remembered hearing someone say that the guy was a vampire and he had been…..what did they say? Encantoed? What the hell did that mean? None of this made sense. Hell, none of it sounded right to him right now and if he asked anyone about it he would sound like a mad man. Something told him that a quick google search was not going to give him all of the answers he needed._ _

__“How are you feeling Alec?” Izzy asked, trying to change the subject._ _

__Alec sighed. “A little tired but I’m okay, I guess.” That seemed to be the right answer as everyone smiled at him and decided to leave him to get ready for the morning. Alec decided that a shower would be a good start. Walking into the bathroom Alec took in his appearance. He looked like himself but maybe a little paler than usual. Alec noticed the large plaster on his neck and deciding that he didn’t want to get it wet, he started to take off the plaster. Not knowing what to expect, Alec was shocked when he found two small marks on his neck. They looked like…. bite marks? Okay. This was now getting weird. Alec thought back to the lecture that he had had yesterday about local mythical folklore. He remembered the talks about vampires, warlocks, werewolves and the nephilim and shook his head. No. It could not all be true. There was no way. Ragnor said that there was no concrete evidence that all of this existed. What if all of this was in his head? But a part of him couldn’t ignore the signs. The two small marks on his neck, hearing his siblings talk to Emmanuel about drinking his blood, hearing in his subconscious about runes. If he was supposedly bitten by a vampire would he become one too? Was all of it true? Did his family already know about all of this and they were trying to keep him in the dark about it? What on earth was going on?_ _

__After ten minutes of getting lost in his head Alec finished having his shower and got dressed for the day. He was meant to be going to class today but considering how tired he felt, he really didn’t feel like going out today. He just wanted to sleep all day if he could but he decided to be productive instead. After eating some breakfast he grabbed his notebooks and walked to his mother’s bookshop. He couldn’t get the idea out of his mind that everything that he swore he didn’t believe in was true._ _

__He needed answers. He needed to talk to Magnus and tell him the truth, his deception filling his head and heart with guilt. He always deep down had a suspicion that his family had a secret that he wasn’t let in on and it had something to do with what happened to him last night. His mind went to the image he saw of Jace putting away what looked like a sword into the cloakroom downstairs but not finding anything when he looked himself. His family all had the same tattoos on their skin, even Clary had decided to join in in the tradition but he was never there when the tattoos were drawn onto their skin. His family would sometimes be out at night when they thought he was still sleeping. Something didn’t add up. He needed to know what was going on and now._ _

__He ran to the book shop. His Mother was running an errand so her friend Luke was covering for her. Using this opportunity to not be spied on by his family, he opened every book he could find on vampires and nephilim. It was all there. Vampires who drank blood, having the ability to control minds in a move known as ‘encanto’, nephilim who had tattoos of runes just like his family all over their body, how they could wield weapons that glowed with the mark of the angel. It all made so much sense to him now, it was all in front of him and he was just too blind to see it. Book after book after book he trolled through trying to learn as much as he could. The more he read, the more his head felt like it was going to explode, like something in his head was trying to stop him from reading all of this new found information._ _

__He soon found a book on the topic of thermaturgy. Magnus did say that it was basically a study of magic, but with his new found knowledge, Alec couldn’t help but wonder if Magnus was involved in this too. He paused for a moment before he grabbed the book and started to go through it carefully page by page. To the superstitious eye, it looked like a spell book. Like something a warlock from Mr Fell’s classes would use._ _

__He kept going until his eyes started to blur and he felt like he was going to pass out. The need to go home and sleep was excruciating, like his body was forcing him to do it. He couldn’t believe what he was reading. Why did so much of this make sense? As he read a final line in one of the books he was reading about warlocks and how they are considered immortal and had ‘marks’ to prove their species, Alec’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, darkness encompassing him as he fell onto the floor, his body spasming._ _

___The world around his closed eyes was bright. Alec felt light. Lighter than he could ever imagine. He almost felt like he was…floating. Opening his eyes, he looked around to see white everywhere and a low mist hanging below his feet. He looked down at himself. He was dressed in black with the rune tattoos he knew so well from his family covering his own skin. Alec couldn’t help but think that they looked…right. Like they belonged on his skin._ _ _

___“Alexander Gideon Lightwood.” Alec eyes darted around in panic as a sudden deep voice boomed loudly around him. “It is time for you to remember who you are.”_ _ _

___Alec moved his head around as much as he could, hoping that he could find the owner of the voice he just heard. What did they mean? He knew who he was. He was Alec. He had his family, his friends, Magnus, his home in Alicante. He was a student at the local university. There was nothing else to know about him._ _ _

___“You do not need to be afraid” Alec turned around to see a man standing approximately 6 feet away in front of him. He was dressed like the roman gladiators that he read about in books. His metal armour looking new and polished with a cape across his shoulders that shone a deep red._ _ _

___Alec stands still in his position, not daring to make a move. He has no idea what is going on right now. The last thing he remembers is that he was in the book shop and he fainted. He stared at the man in front of him for a moment before speaking. “Who are you? Where am I?”_ _ _

___“That is not important.” The man said walking slowly towards Alec. “What’s important is that you need to wake up and remember who you are. Your world is in grave danger and I was hoping to keep the promise that I had made to you six years ago but unfortunately I can’t anymore.”_ _ _

___Alec shook his head in confusion. “I know exactly who I am!”_ _ _

___The man looked at Alec questioningly. “Are you sure? Are you sure there is nothing about you, about your family that you can’t explain? Have you ever felt like you have been left out on a big secret that your family knows that you don’t?”_ _ _

___Alec felt like he had been kicked in the chest. The man was right, but how did he know about that? He knew that his family had been acting strange since he returned to Alicante but he just took it as them changing as people since it had been years since they had all lived together. Was there really more to the story that he didn’t know? Was this guy right? Alec shook his head again and placed his head in his hands. “This is insane. What are you talking about? What promise? Why is the world in danger?”_ _ _

___“All of the answers you seek are right here.” The man said, now much closer to Alec. He reached out from behind him and as if they had magically appeared, a metallic bow covered in the same black runes as he had on his skin and a dark leather quiver of metal arrows appeared in his hands. To Alec they looked… beautiful. Majestic almost. Like they had been crafted by the most skilled weapons masters. “Take these and all will be revealed.”_ _ _

___Alec looked at the man quizzically. He wasn’t sure if he could trust him. Wasn’t this a dream land? This was all in his head right? If this really was in his head, there was no harm in taking the weapons off the man… surely? Hesitantly, he reached forward and took the weapons into his hands. They felt light. Like they were meant for fighting and moving quickly with. Seemingly out of habit, he placed the quiver over his shoulder and held the bow tight in his left hand._ _ _

___It all happened so quickly, Alec had no time to react. All of a sudden, from the corner of his eye, he could see the shadows that had been haunting him for years. Hundreds of them. Alec had no idea what to do. It was like the shadows were looking straight at him. They started to creep closer to him, the whispey shadows starting to solidify. The top half of the shadows formed into a head, hollow eyes forming and glaring straight at Alec, jagged noses and hollow mouths appeared afterwards opening to show razor sharp teeth. In a fleet of panic, Alec crouched down into a ball, his arms over his head, hoping they would provide some form of protect from the creatures racing towards Alec at an alarming pace now. He allowed himself a peek through his eye lids as he realised that the shadows never attacked him. In fact they were circling him, still staring at him, causing his panicking to rise. His breathing quickened in panic, he felt the sweat running down his face, or were they tears? The black shadows circled closer and closer around Alec until they were almost an inch away from him. He felt like he was drowning. All he could see was black from the shadows. He tried to scream, but no sounds were coming out. He tried to reach out to the man he spoke to for help but he had disappeared. No one was coming to help him._ _ _

___With a final silent cry, the shadows completely encompassed him as he looked up to the sky as if in prayer, asking for help and salvation from this nightmare. The last thing he remembered was his body falling to the floor with a thud, his head hitting the floor with a sickening crack. ____ _


	13. chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the legends are true....

Alec groaned as he slowly started to open his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer in the book shop. He felt the soft mattress he was currently lying on between his fingers and it came to light that he was in his bedroom. He looked around the room, trying to limit the amount of movement he could to avoid detection that he was awake. What had happened to him? What was that dream - no, nightmare- all about? He noticed a figure sitting in the chair next to his bed asleep, his blond hair shining in the bright light of the morning sky. It was Jace. He was sitting upright, with his head in his hand, his elbow leaning on the arm rest. It didn’t look comfortable at all. He noticed the dark circles under Jace’s eyes as he slept. He looked exhausted, but Alec didn’t know why. Alec grimaced as a headache formed. He raised a hand to his head to try and alleviate the pain but was frozen still when he noticed his arms. His arms were covered in the black tattoos like in his dream. What the hell happened to him and why was he covered in the family tattoos? 

“I thought I’d never see you with runes again” Alec snapped his head to the other side of his bed as the image of his Mother appeared at the foot of his bed. “They appeared on your skin when you passed out.” She had tears in her eyes that were left unshed. 

“Mother… What happened?” Alec asked shakily, his voice horse from waking up. 

Maryse sighed as she sat on the edge of the bed next to his chest. “You fainted in the book shop. Luke noticed you had passed out and called me as soon as it happened and he noticed the runes on your skin appearing.” 

Alec looked at his Mother perplexed. “Runes?” 

His Mother laughed softly as she ran a hand through his hair gently. It reminded Alec of when he was sick as a child. It was soft and comforting, something Alec didn’t realise he needed until now. “That’s what we call them. They were never tattoos. They are gifts from heaven. We all thought that you would never bare them again.” 

Alec struggled as he sat up in bed, his Mother immediately raced to place a pillow behind his head and back. “Again? What happened to me?” He asked again. 

“It seems like we have a lot of catching up to do. But we need to wake up Jace, Isabelle and Max first.” Alec looked at Jace still asleep in the chair. “He never left your side. We were all so worried so we took shifts.” 

“How did I get home?” Alec asked placing a hand on his head again to alleviate the pain in his head. 

“Luke carried you home as soon as you collapsed.” Alec nodded in acceptance. A shuffle of clothing caused Maryse and Alec to look towards the seat Jace was sleeping in. He was waking up as he shifted in his seat. As he opened his eyes, they locked to Alec as he smiled, noticing that the man was awake. 

“Welcome back Alec. Nice runes.” Jace joked as he got himself settled in his seat better. 

“Jace. Can you go and wake up Izzy and Max please. They are going to want to see Alec now he is awake.” Maryse asked. “Plus… it’s time.” Jace shocked expression was enough to fully sober Alec up. With a silent nod, Jace left the room. Time for what? He had been through enough already and now there was something else? A few minutes pass in silence as Izzy and Max walk into the room. They both look tired, still in what Alec guessed was their clothes from the night before. Despite what Maryse had said they looked like they had not slept a wink. Did something that bad really happen to him to make them all lose sleep with worry? Max took the chair that Jace had slept on while Jace and Izzy had sat on the other side of the bed Maryse was sat on. All of them were staring at Alec. Alec’s eyes darting to all of them with worry. 

“Okay. You’re freaking me out here. What’s going on?” Alec asked still darting his eyes to everyone to get some sort of reassurance that everything is okay. 

“First” Maryse started “We need to know what happened to cause you to faint. What were you doing?” 

Alec cleared his throat as he thought back. “I was at the book shop. Doing research.” 

“What kind of research?” Jace interjected. 

Alec looked down at his covers and played with them in his hand. He felt like he was being interrogated but he didn’t know why. “Um… It was about the mythical creatures we had studied in class. Vampires, werewolves and warlocks.” He didn’t want to come clean that he was researching some of the things that his family has said that didn’t make sense. “Then as I kept reading I kept getting a headache that got worse and worse the more I read. I thought I was fine until… everything went dark.” 

The room went silent as Jace and Izzy shared a knowing look. Like they expected this to happen. 

“What happened after that? You were talking when you were unconscious.” Izzy pressed. 

Alec shook his head. “It was nothing. It was just a dream.” 

Maryse shook her head. “I think we all know that it wasn’t just some dream Alec. Did... ‘he’ speak to you?” 

Alec stared back, mouth agape. He had no idea how to move forward with that. His mind was going a mile a minute. Who was he? What did they know? Yes he talks in his sleep but how does this particular dream have them all so worried? He decided there was no harm in it and he might as well come clean. What harm can it do telling them about a dream he had? Alec replied slowly, carefully choosing his words. “A… man appeared to me. Spoke to me. He told me that the world was in danger and I needed to wake up and remember who I am.” Everyone on Alec’s bed looked at each other with worry, their eyebrows furrowed as Alec continued. “He… gave me a bow and arrow. It was like, I don’t know, like they were mine and I hadn’t held them in a long time. The next thing I know these shadows appeared out of nowhere. It wasn’t the first time I had seem them. I had seem them for years but I always thought that they were a trick of the light. The next thing I know hundreds of them appeared, they changed into… creatures with long pointy teeth and they surrounded me. The next thing I know, I’m awake here and talking to all of you.” 

Maryse sighs as she places a hand on Alec’s leg. “There is a lot that we need to discuss now. There is a reason that you have heard and seen all of this and we were all hoping to never have this conversation with you at all. First and foremost. Our family is not like most families. You have mentioned that in your classes, you had studied all of the mythical creatures that existed in history. What if I were to tell you that all of the legends are true? Vampires, warlocks, werewolves, nephilim, they all exist.”

Alec stared back at his Mother wide eyed in disbelief. Is she being serious right now? Are they all playing a prank on him? Alec shook his head. “I would say… I don’t believe you.” 

Maryse sighed. “Well… you will have to start believing again. That vision you had when you passed out was not a dream. It was a message from the archangel Michael. You are part nephilim. We all are, and that is why we wear the runes of the angels on our skin. As you have noticed, you are wearing them too. That is because you are one as well.” 

“Then why don’t I remember having these “runes” before?” Alec asked air quoting the word runes. 

“That is because…” Jace started, looking to Maryse for confirmation to continue who nodded in encouragement. “You in particular were chosen by the archangel for a special purpose. About six years ago, you were like us. You were a nephilim who would go out on patrol and hunt demons in the night. That is what those shadows are that you have been seeing. They are glamours of other nephilim and supernatural creatures that were hidden from you when you lost your powers.” 

“Okay.” Alec says steading himself in his bed. “Say I believe you. How did I lose my powers?” 

“There was an uprising. Over the centuries there has been a war between the angels and the demons. The angels were led by Michael and the demons were led by Lucifer. Lucifer has been wanting control of the Earth plane for centuries and every time he tries to take over, Michael would be there to lead the charge against Lucifer with the help of a chosen nephilim. As Michael can not survive on the Earth plane, he would… embody the chosen nephilim and would fight using that person’s body as a vessel to fight against Lucifer and win the war every time. The first war was known as the Great War. Six years ago, another nephilim’s son Jonathon Morganstern was convinced that the greater demon Lillith was his Mother and was convinced to raise Lucifer to take over the Earth plane. When the time came, Michael embodied you and you killed Jonathon, along with a lot of Lucifer’s nephilim followers who had turned to their side. The war was… long. When the war was over you were given a choice. To carry this burden, as you saw it at the time, as Michael’s vessel for the rest of your life or live the rest of your life as a mundane with no knowledge of this world. You chose the latter. As Michael promised, your memories were wiped of everything that was linked to this world. Michael believed that you would never have to be in his service again so we went along with it, making sure that your new beliefs that the paranormal world didn’t exist stayed. It seems now that someone is trying to raise Lucifer again and now he needs you back in his service.” 

“But… why me? Why not anyone else?” Alec asked bewildered. This can not be true. There was no way this was true!

“You are a direct descendant of Michael. The vessel needed to be the first male born of age of his bloodline, over 18 years old and pure. That was you. You were picked by the archangel Michael to be his vessel and grant his wish to aid mundanes and nephilim to rid the world of Lucifer and his demons.” 

Maryse ran a hand through Alec’s hair to calm him while he sat there staring at his duvet in shock. “Oh Alec, I’m so sorry. At the time you were just a boy. I didn’t want this to sit on your shoulders for all of your life so we told you originally only when it was necessary. Safe to say, you didn’t take it well. The responsibility you now had on your shoulders terrified you. You wouldn’t sleep, you wouldn’t eat. Instead of removing your memories of the possession and keeping you nephilim, Michael took away all of your memories to keep you pure. You thought of your duty as a curse, when we all thought of it as a gift. When Michael removed your memories, you were in a coma for about a week. When you awoke you knew nothing that had happened. You had no idea that you had lost a week either. We all saw this as an amazing opportunity for you to be happy. I have never seen you smile and relax more since you became a mundane again. We all decided this was a chance for you to live a normal life after everything you had been through. You were never happy as a nephilim so we never tried to make you remember out of respect for your wishes. We all knew that if you wanted to remember who you really were then you would find a way to remember on your own.”

“But why make me remember now?” Alec asked

“We have a feeling that the more you tried to dig into the supernaturals, the more the compulsion on you to forget was fighting. That was why you fainted.” 

“Also we have noticed the same pattern as before. Vampires, warlocks and werewolves are going missing. Just like last time. We have a feeling that someone is trying to raise Lucifer again and Michael is going to need you again to help win this war.” Jace explained.

“But…I’m not a fighter. I don’t know how to even throw a decent punch let alone run headfirst into battle! This is insane.” Alec argued. 

“It’s all there inside of you Alec. You have just forgotten how to do it all.” Maryse explained. She reached over to Alec’s side table where an unfamiliar long rectangular box sat. She picked it up and opened it, picking up a long pen-like device into her hands, the tip glowing a soft white. “I was hoping that you would never need this again, so I kept it with me so you would never find it.” 

“What is it? A paperweight?” Alec asked 

Izzy chuckled. “Not quite big brother.” Izzy reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a similar looking device. “It’s called a stele. It is how we activate the runes on our skin that give us power.” With that she ran the stele over one of the tattoos on her skin, the black ink lighting up with a soft orange glow. 

Alec looked at the stele in his Mother’s hand with awe. “So this… thing gives me powers?” 

Maryse nodded. “Try one. Do the same thing that your sister just did. You will feel the rush of energy running through you. That will tell you that the rune has worked.” Alec just shook his head in disbelief again. Why the hell not? If they have gone this far into this elaborate scheme, why not humour them? He picked up the stele and felt the weight in his hand. It was surprisingly light for what it seemed to be made off. He noticed that the light on the tip shone brightly when he held it. Maybe it was lit by pressure? He followed what his sister did and ran the stele over the rune on his forearm of his left arm just under the elbow. He felt drawn to that rune in particular and he wasn’t sure why. Sure enough, as Maryse described, Alec’s eyes widened as the rune lit up with a soft orange hue and his body shivered as he felt a rush of energy run through him. 

As soon as he had finished activating the rune, his Mother and family disappeared from his view. His eyes rolled into the back of head as he saw a battlefield. Bloodied bodies and fire surrounded him as he looked around. The smell of sulphur and rotting bodies filled his nose with disgust. He saw the endings of a fight occurring, the bow and arrow in his hand like they were moulded to him. He knocked an arrow into his bow as a vampire came racing towards him, releasing only when Alec knew he had a clear shot. It was like it was in his bones. He knew how to fight. He knew this was who he was. He was a nephilim. A hunter. A warrior. He was a combat specialist with the ability to wield a sword and a bow expertly. He could see his family around him fighting along side him, his Mother and Father catching proud glances at him. His brother, no... parabatai, standing next to him fighting in unison with him. It was like they shared a soul. Like they fought as one person. 

He was snapped back to reality with the shouts of Izzy calling his name. The smell of fire and blood flew away from his nose, the image of the battlefield melted in front of him to the image of Jace, Izzy, Max and his Mother all looking at him worriedly. He tried to catch his breath as he tried to remember that this was reality. What he saw was…what? A memory? A vision? He didn’t know anything anymore. “What the hell was that?” Alec asked breathlessly. 

“I think that was the angels making sure that you understood your true purpose. Ironically, the rune you chose to activate was the angelic power rune. The first one we all get so we can wield the marks of the angels. What did you see?” Jace asked 

Slowly calming his breathing, he tried to remember what he saw. “There was… fire… and blood….and bodies everywhere. I had a bow and arrow in my hand. I killed something… a vampire. You all were there fighting with me. I remember everything. How to fight, how to use a sword. That you“ He said looking at Jace “are my parabatai?” 

Jace’s eyes starting to well up at the mention of their sacred bond. “I never thought I would hear you call me that again. Look Alec, I know this all seems crazy and it is a lot of process. But we need to get you back into fighting form just in case. There is a reason why you are remembering now and it must be something big otherwise Michael never would have betrayed his promise to you.”

“So…. all of this is real. You’re really not pulling my leg on all of this.” Alec muttered to himself. He couldn’t believe it. How could he deny what was in front of him? He is a nephilim. He is a born fighter with extraordinary skills. “I just… I need a minute to process all of this. Please.” He pleaded. His family all nodded and got up to leave. 

“We’re all here for you hermano. Just let us know when you want to talk about all of this.” Izzy said running a hand over Alec’s in comfort. He gently smiled at her in response and let her leave. Once he was left with his thoughts, he processed and processed. For hours he just sat there, lying on his bed looking up at the ceiling trying to work over what he had been told. He looked around his childhood room. None of this was real. This was a fake life that he had been given. All fake concert tickets and family photos. For a moment he was angry at his family. He understood why they did what they did. It was his choice. He chose to forget. But for now he needed to get away from the house and clear his head. He needed fresh air. So he waited until his family were all asleep and headed outside, not sure where he was heading to.


	14. chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec goes to see Magnus and more is revealed

After deciding to run to Magnus’ apartment instead of walking around the streets with no where to go, Alec was out of breath as he lent against the entrance to the building. The run gave him the opportunity to release a lot of the pent up anger that he had in him against his family before he arrived there. He had no idea why but he felt like he needed to talk to Magnus about all of this and something inside him told him that talking to his boyfriend about this would help alleviate his struggles with coming to terms with it all. Despite Magnus seeming to know a lot about the supernatural world, Alec knew that this conversation could go one of two ways. He could either make a joke about it or he could tell him to get out because he found Alec’s new found status to be too far even for him. 

As he arrived outside Magnus’ apartment door, he noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Normally in a situation like this, Alec would have probably phoned Magnus or the police but he felt the urge to walk inside just in case Magnus was there. As Alec entered the room, he noticed that the room has been dismantled. Papers and books were flown across the floor while furniture had been turned over. It looked like there had been a burlgary until Alec eye’s caught Magnus in the throws of a fight with two strangers in black clothing. They both had glowing swords in their hands as they circled around Magnus together. Alec stood in shock at the scene in front of him. He had no clue what to do. The swords, he had noticed, had the rune symbols on them. They were nephilim? What were they doing in Magnus’ apartment? What did they want with him? Magnus had his hands, palm up about chest height. Alec thought this was a weird position to stand in, until he noticed balls of blue light forming from Magnus’ palms. What the hell was this? How was Magnus doing that? 

As one man took a swing at Magnus, Magnus dodged the attack and thrust a hand out causing one of the blue orbs to shoot towards the attacker, who flew backwards landing against the bookshelf across the room, causing more books to decorate the floor. The other man swung at Magnus hoping he was distracted from the previous attack. Magnus managed to dodge the attack and as he waved his hands around in circles, a larger orb appeared between his hands in the same shimmering blue as before. Once the orb was big enough for Magnus’ satisfaction, he threw it at the nephilim who, despite trying to run away from the attack, was hit in the arm and fell to the floor, screaming in agony. Alec watched in silence as Magnus walked towards the man, one of his hands stretched out again, another blue orb appearing in his palm, facing towards the nephilim. 

“Who sent you?” Magnus asked, his voice deep. Alec shuddered at the darkest of Magnus’ tone. This man was dangerous, not the fun loving Magnus he knew and loved. 

The man stayed silent, refusing to answer. Alec noticed Magnus’ face scowl when he knew he wasn’t going to get an answer. He shot his stretched hand towards the nephilim, a constant stream of blue light wrapping itself around the nephilim’s neck, choking him. 

“I said” Magnus asked slowly making sure he was heard correctly “Who… sent you.” 

The screams of agony from the nephilim were almost too much for Alec to bare. He wanted to run. Run as far away as he could away from this…. creature standing before him who was not his boyfriend. This was a whole other person standing before him. His back was straight, his shoulders back, almost regally as he kept his eyes on the nephilim on the floor who’s face was slowly turning red. 

“Val…entine.” 

Magnus chuckled, his eyes seeming to grow darker. “Oh, and what does Valentine want from me?” 

“I don’t know” The nephilim said before Magnus shot another wave of the blue light towards him in anger. “I don’t know! I only got told to get you to Valentine. That’s all I know, I swear.” 

Magnus nodded slowly “I believe you.” With that, Magnus stopped the light coming from his hand, leaving the nephilim unconscious on the floor. Once the light had left Magnus’ hand, he breathed a sigh of relief and ran a hand through his dark spiked hair. As he turned around, he stilled as he noticed Alec standing in shock by the door. 

“Alexander” Magnus said cautiously. “How long have you been standing there?” 

Alec cleared his throat once he took a deep breath in. No matter what excuse Magnus was going to give him and despite coming over with problems of his own, he needed answers from him right now. “Long enough.” 

Magnus nodded in understanding. “Then I guess there are some things that I need to tell you.” He answered solumnly, clearing uncomfortable with the coming conversation. Alec nods as he cautiously ventures into the room, his hands clasped behind his back, trying his hardest not to look at the two men lying unconscious on the floor around them. 

“Don’t worry about them. I will get rid of them now.” Magnus clicked his fingers and suddenly the two men disappeared. 

Alec looked back at Magnus shocked. “What? Where did they go?” 

“They are no longer our problem, that’s all that matters.” Magnus answered dismissively. 

“So….” Alec starts, not quite sure on what to say “You can do magic?” It seemed so silly to state the obvious but it was the only thing that Alec could wrap his head around right now. He had seen with his own eyes Magnus having beams of light come out of his hands. What else could he call that other than magic?” 

Magnus nods “I can. I… am a warlock. I’m sorry that I hadn’t told you sooner. I had planned to tell you tonight. I know that you don’t believe in this sort of thing, but now that you have seen it with your own eyes, you can’t deny, it is very hard to ignore the evidence.”

Alec stood back in surprise. It shouldn’t have really shocked him considering what he had just seen but to have it confirmed was still surprising. “Well uh… considering what you have just told me, I feel like I need to come clean too. It was actually why I came over in the first place…. my mother has just told me that I am a nephilim.” He said rolling up one of his sleeves to show Magnus one of the newly formed runes on his skin. “I haven’t wrapped my head around it all considering that, like you said, I don’t believe in this sort of thing but.. now that you have just confirmed to me that all of this… supernatural stuff is actually real, it’s really hard for me to deny what I’ve been told.” 

Magnus looked at Alec solumnly. “So Maryse finally told you?” 

Alec looked back angry. “Hold on. You knew? So you just let me whittle on and on about how none of this was real and you never thought to correct me?” 

Magnus looked down ashamed, his hands playing one of the many bejeweled rings adorning his finger. “I had my guesses about your family. Not you exactly, as the runes were a big giveaway and you didn’t wear any. I was surprised that you didn’t know anything about this at all. I had originally thought that you were hiding all of this because you might have thought that I was a mundane especially since you denied the existence of the supernatural world so strongly. But now that you have come to me and told me this, I can understand how this could be a struggle for you. But right now, you have to understand that we are in danger. You heard what they said, a very dark nephilim called Valentine is after me and I don’t know why. We need to get out of here now and lie low somewhere. We can talk about this more when we are somewhere safe. I’m sure that there are more of those people coming right now.” 

Before Alec could say anything, a loud explosion erupts throughout the apartment and a bright white light covers their vision, causing both of the men to fly across the room. Alec lands on the long dark wooden dining table, which crumbles under the brute force landing on it, wood shattering around him. Alec grabs his now sore head and pulls it away, ears ringing from the explosion. All he can see is his hand covered in red. It took in a few seconds to realise that he was bleeding. He groans trying to sit up and focus his eyes again, looking everywhere he can for Magnus. He catches a dark blur on the floor as his eyes try and refocus. As he just about makes out the spiked dark hair on Magnus’ head, another figure appears. They are dressed in black and, as Alec’s eyes focus more and more, he notices the runes adorning the skin. It’s another nephilim! How did they get in? Did he leave the door open? How long had they been in the apartment while they were having their heart to heart? 

“Magnus?” Alec tries to call out but his voice is shaken to barely a strained whisper. His head is pounding as he focuses on Magnus, who is lying face down and a little too still for Alec’s liking on the floor. Wake up, get up! Alec pleads in his head to Magnus, somehow hoping he will receive the message as he watches, unable to stop the dizziness in his head forcing him to lay still on the floor surrounded by bits of the broken table. He notices the nephilim standing over Magnus, and tries to get up. He can’t just lie there, he has to do something. Before he even gets to knee height, a silver blade comes at him, stopping in front of his throat. 

“Nah, uh, uh. I would stay there if I were you” 

Alec looks up to see a tall, scrawny, blond haired male, wearing a black jumper and jeans, his sleeved rolled up slightly to show off multiple runes. “You’re nephilim.” Alec chokes out. 

The man smirks back at him. “So are you, and yet you don’t seem to be carrying a weapon and having a warlock as company. What does that say about you? A nephilim should always be prepared, especially if you were planning on furfilling your duty and ridding this world of warlock scum.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill him” Alec answered, coughing harshly as he tried to recover from his fall. 

The man grimaced. “Then you side with… _them _and we can’t allow that. Defected nephilim are an abomination in this world. You will side with us or meet your fate.”__

__“Magnus” Alec pleads again weakly, trying to look at the unconscious warlock who was now being carried over the other nephilim’s shoulder. The man carrying him was tall, dark haired and burly, clearly the muscles in this plan. But Alec was outnumbered. Magnus was unconscious so he was not going to be much help and he didn’t have any weapons on him. Inside he knew that he knew how to fight but he just couldn’t justify the risk. But he had to get Magnus to safety, how was he going to do that?_ _

__“Hodge, I’m taking the warlock back. Take care of… that.” The dark haired man instructed and left immediately thought the front door. Alec watched as the last sight of Magnus on the back of the nephilim chased out of view. He closed his eyes as he rested on his knees and accepted his fate. This was where he was going to die. At the hands of the very people he had only just discovered. He decided right there and then that if he was one of these people then he never wanted any part of it. He couldn’t live with the idea of discriminating someone purely for their race._ _

__“Don’t worry. I’ll make it quick. Any last words?” Hodge asked as he pressed the sword closer to Alec’s neck. He could feel a cool drop of blood run down his knee from the puncture wound the sword had created. He kept his eyes closed as he thought of Magnus and how sorry he felt that he couldn’t save him._ _

__“Yeah. Leave my brother alone!” A male voice shouted from the other side of the room. Alec’s eyes shot open as he noticed Jace standing in the door way with Izzy. They both were all dressed in black, Jace brandishing a larger sword similar to one he saw Jace stash away in the cupboard downstairs in their house many nights ago and Izzy had a long silver whip. Before the man could answer, Izzy launched forward and struck her whip towards Hodge, landing perfectly on his face, making Hodge drop the sword by Alec’s throat. It was a dangerous move that she made but Alec could tell that it would only have worked with years of practice._ _

__Hodge immediately moved away from Alec as Izzy launched strike after strike, each one landing on a part of his body, blood oozing from each strike. When she was close enough, she launched her whip one more time and made it wrap around Hodge’s midriff, his arms locked by his sides. Jace ran to Alec who was watching in awe of his bad-ass sister, the woman who normally was the sweetest girl imaginable and wouldn’t hurt a fly, single-handily taking down this man incapacitating him. Hodge was now on his knees panting, bloody from the strike of Izzy’s whip._ _

__“Alec, are you okay?” Jace asks a wide-eyed Alec._ _

__Alec turned to look at Jace’s concerned face and around the room. Suddenly his situation hit in all at once. The fight, his revelations with Magnus, the explosion, Magnus being carried over the shoulder of a nephilim unconscious. “Mag….” Alec tried to say to Jace, but the tears welling up in his eyes were causing his voice to crack._ _

__“What?” Jace asked prompting Alec to elaborate._ _

__Alec cleared his throat and shook his head, answering shakily. “Magnus. They took Magnus. We have to get him back. I… I don’t know why. They said something about this guy called Valentine who is apparently dangerous and wants Magnus to do something. There was an explosion and…. now he’s gone”_ _

__Jace’s eyebrows furrowed. “No. That’s impossible. Valentine died a long time ago. Are you sure it was definitely him they mentioned?”_ _

__Alec nodded. “I came to see Magnus who was fighting off two ne-nephilim. They collapsed after telling him that Valentine wanted Magnus and he told me that…. he was a warlock after I saw him fighting with his magic and I told him about me… then there was this explosion. We need to get him back Jace. I can’t lose him” Alec said, progressively getting more irate as he spoke. Jace put a calming hand on his shoulder to stop Alec from moving a lot._ _

__“It’s okay Alec. We will get him back. First off, are you hurt anywhere?” Alec shook his head. “Well to be on the safe side…” Jace grabbed his stele from his pocket and lifted Alec’s top slightly._ _

__“Hey! What are you doing?” Alec asked trying to push Jace away, still not sure how he felt about that stele instrument._ _

__“I’m healing any wounds you may have. You say you are not hurt, but I am not taking the chance that we miss something. You’re healing rune is on your left side. I need to get to it to heal you. Will you let me do it?” Alec looked at Jace questioningly but nodded his head anyway. He trusted Jace, no matter what. Jace lifted his torn shirt up slightly to show a rune on his left side, just above his hip and ran the stele over it. Alec immediately felt a rush of warmth run through him as he felt more energised, his head cleared and it didn’t hurt anymore to move. “Are you okay?”_ _

__Alec nodded as he stood up, taking in the wreck surrounding him. He couldn’t believe the mess around him. But he couldn’t think about that right now._ _

__He needed to find a way to get Magnus back._ _


	15. chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus meets Lucifer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so so SO much for joining me on this journey so far. All of your kudos and comments mean the world to me! Hope you enjoy the rest of this story! (Once I get a chance to upload it)

Magnus groaned as he opened his eyes, squinting from the pounding in his head. He tried to take stock of how he felt. He couldn’t feel any injuries which he took as a bonus. However, he did notice something metal around his wrists. Despite his pounding head, he looked down to see that he had magic dampening cuffs on. He groaned. How typical, although not surprising considering whoever had taken him would expect Magnus to use his magic to escape. He cast his mind back to try and work out how he had ended up in this situation. His eyes widened. The fight, Alexander discovering he was a warlock, the explosion and then it all went black. Oh Alexander. He must be so confused and scared right now. He had come to talk to Magnus about his newfound revelation of being a nephilim and instead he found himself in the middle of a war that he would want nothing to do with. He just hoped that Alexander hadn’t been taken too. 

Scanning around the room, he noticed that he was in what he would consider a renaissance themed dining room. All dark reds, gold and rather luxurious. Candelabra wall hangings lit the room with a dim glow. It all seemed kind of dramatic and ominous to Magnus, which usually he would love if he was not the one in handcuffs. He was on the floor in the middle of the room and as he sat himself up into an upright position, he noticed white chalk around him in the shape of a circle, with a multitude of symbols surrounding it. It was a summoning circle. Oh this can not be good. Magic 101 would tell you to never be in the middle of a summoning circle, always outside it. Which is where Magnus was desperate to be right now. He had no idea why they wanted him and why he was in the middle of this circle and he had no intention of finding out either. Trying his hardest not to make any loud noises, he stood up and walked to the edge of the circle, only to be stopped by an invisible wall. Damn it. Magnus hadn’t taken the chance that his captures were uneducated enough to not put a barrier around it, but it seems that he had failed. Magnus was trapped. He had no way of escaping this summoning circle, so he just sat down where he was. He could bet that someone had put a charm on the circle too so that Magnus couldn’t wipe away any of the chalk so he didn’t bother trying. He just sat back down resigned…and waited. 

An hour later Magnus had memorised the runes in the horrifying summing circle beneath his feet. The runes were demonic and all linked to hell. The thought terrified Magnus. Whatever these people wanted to summon was dark and powerful. He just hoped that he could find a way to escape and fast. His attention was brought to the only door leading out of the room as opened with a loud clack. Magnus stood as two men came in, no later than their 40’s, both bald. One was more round faced than the other and the other had a greying stubble. They both were dressed in black button down shirts and black combat trousers with black combat ankle boots, their runes proudly on display. Magnus groaned. Nephilim. Then he remembered the conversation with the nephilim that so graciously invaded his home. Valentine. One of these men must be Valentine or could lead Magnus to him. 

“I see you are awake finally Warlock.” The man on the left spoke, his arms crossed across his chest. 

“It would appear” Magnus scowled. “What do you want me with me? Why am I here?”

“Do you really think I would tell you just like that?” The man smirked, his gravely voice echoing off the grand walls. “But since you asked so nicely, I might as well inform you that you are here to start a new revolution and you are the key. You were even requested personally for this so you should feel honoured.” 

“Oh really.” Magnus answered sarcastically “And pray tell, who asked me for such an… honourable task” 

“All in good time warlock.” The man looked at his watch and the other man on the right. “It is almost time. Bring them in.” The other man nodded and left the room, returning moments later with a dark haired man and a blonde haired woman who were covered in multiple bruises and lacerations. Magnus winced at the sight. He had seen them at various gatherings over the past few years but couldn’t quite place them, sure in himself that the man was a vampire and the woman was a werewolf. They both were unconscious, currently being dragged along the floor towards the outside of the summoning circle. Magnus gasped. If his knowledge was correct, they were going to be sacrifices! 

“What are you trying to achieve?” Magnus asked hoping to stall for time, hoping that Alexander will have noticed that he was gone and currently finding a way to reach him before it was too late. 

The man held his hands out, gesturing towards the circle. “Surely you know what this is for?” 

“It’s a summoning circle.” 

“Correct. But it’s not just any summoning circle. It’s a circle that links directly to hell. It seems you have a family member who is dying to see you, hence why are you being requested.”

Magnus’ eyes widened. The only person he knew in hell that knew of him was…… “Lucifer.” 

The man smirked again “I knew you would be able to work it out. You see, Lucifer and I have come to an understanding. He wants the Earth plane for himself and I am willing to help him whatever it takes.” 

“But you are nephilim. Wouldn’t you want to eradicate all of hell’s creatures for the sake of your precious oaths and morals?” Magnus asked snidely 

“Oh I do, and you are going to help me with that. With Lucifer gone, all of the creatures with his blood will die. But for that, he needs to be on this plane. This is where you come in. You are his grandson, or so he tells me himself, so you, along with these…. things are going to give him enough power to come here again.” 

“There is always a price when it comes to Lucifer. What did you promise him?” Magnus asked concerned, believing that this man is out of his depth, but he doesn’t know it yet.

“Not that it concerns you, but I promised him an army.” 

Magnus shook his head. “You fool. You are as good as dead the second he is here. He is known as the devil for a reason.” 

“Hence the wards around the circle.” 

Magnus shook his head again and laughed darkly. “That won’t stop him. He is more powerful than you give him credit for.” 

“Quiet warlock! You do not get to judge whether I underestimate Lucifer or not.” The man shouted. 

“He will kill you!” Magnus warned one last time. “He will kill all of us.” 

“It is a sacrifice worth making.” 

The other man from before approached and stood at parade rest. “Sir. Everything is ready. It is time.” 

“Thank you Lightwood.” The man nodded. 

Magnus eyes widened, his focus on the man on his right. “Wait… Lightwood? You’re Alexander’s father?” He knew that the face looked familiar to him. Given the note of respect to seniority, the other man must be Valentine. Lightwood looked at him with a menacing look.

“He is no son of mine for wanting to fraternise with someone like you”

Magnus chuckled darkly. “You know? Considering the rest of the family, I thought it would be nice to meet my boyfriend’s father. Glad to know it was such a disappointment.” 

“Alexander is the one who is the disappointment.” Lightwood answered monotonously

“No you are!” Magnus shot back. “Alexander is a wonderful wholesome human being who accepts people for who they are. You, and your race, are not. I’m surprised that he even wants anything to do with you.” 

“Well it’s a good thing he will want nothing to do with you after we are finished here” He scolded back. 

“Enough!” Valentine shouted, halting the standoff in front of him. “Let’s get this over with. The moon is at it’s highest. We don’t have a lot of time.” 

Magnus looked up to see through the conveniently placed skylight in the middle of the ceiling, the light shining through directly onto the summoning circle. It was a new moon equinox tonight. To anyone studying magic, they would know that a new moon equinox was the best night to do magic as the energy from it was at it’s highest and the lines between the earth plan and heaven and earth were at their thinnest. Magnus tried to conceal a gulp in his throat. He really was in trouble and there was nothing that he could do about it. Valentine really had thought of everything to make sure that this worked. Not that he would ever tell the man that. They had no more than an hour, then the energy from the moon would be lessened. 

Valentine walked to the edge of the circle and stared at Magnus. “Let us begin.” He turned to look at the unconscious vampire to his right. He looked familiar. Magnus thinks his name is Clark but he wasn’t sure. All Magnus could do was stand there in horror as Valentine took a concealed knife from his trousers and slit his throat. Clark instantly awoke, clutching at his throat not knowing what had just happened to him as he struggled to breathe. Lightwood held the vampire down, making sure that the blood gushing out of his throat ended up falling into the summoning circle. 

“Blood of the night children, to give strength over the dark.” Valentine chanted as he moved over to the woman who had suddenly awoken from the sound of Clark’s gurgled screams, in turn screaming herself, realising her fate. Valentine was quick if not anything, immediately slitting her throat. She didn’t fight it, knowing it was pointless. She dropped to the floor with a sickening thud, the blood messing with her long blond hair and, like Clark’s blood, flowed towards the summoning circle. “Blood of the lycanthrope, to give strength over beasts”. 

Valentine looked towards Magnus with a dark grin. He dragged the dagger across his own palm, blood pooling gently in it and laid his hand at the edge of the circle, his blood joining the blood of the vampire and werewolf towards the edge of the circle. “The blood of the angel, to balance the light and the dark. With these sacrifices, Lucifer, I summon thee.” 

It all happened so quickly, Magnus didn’t know where to look first. The summoning circle ignited in flames, Magnus cursed as he struggled to remove the magic dampening cuffs around his wrists. The flames began to heat up his skin to the point of being unbearable. As soon as the blood from the sacrifices hit his boots, Magnus froze in his place. He was immobilised, with only the ability to look around the room with his eyes. He stared straight into the flames as the image of a tall man with jet black hair, a short matching beard, a long pointed nose and dark beady eyes materialised in front of him. Dressed smartly in a black three piece suit, the man walked out of the flames, straight to Magnus. 

“Hello my grandson. It is time for you to fulfill your purpose to me.” With that, Lucifer placed his hands on either side of Magnus’ temple. The contact scorched Magnus’ skin as he screamed internally in agony. Magnus’ eyes rolled into the back of his head as powerfully dark magic began to pour into his body. Magnus couldn’t see, hear and feel anything other than the sheer pain of the fire running through his veins. In his subconscious, he saw an image of himself being thrown into a dungeon. It was an imitation of his soul! Lucifer was locking it away as Magnus felt Lucfier’s foreign presence take over his body. 

Magnus felt himself stop screaming as he saw through his subconscious his body open his eyes once more and stand tall and still. The flames had stopped. Everything around him had halted as Valentine, Alexander’s father and other nephilim that had unknowingly appeared in the room dropped down to one knee, their heads bowing in respect. Magnus felt his head move down to look at the nephilim before him. No… his subjects. Magnus screamed in horror in his internal prison as Valentine spoke two words that had confirmed his fate. He was no longer Magnus Bane. He was…..

“My Lord.”


	16. chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lightwoods make a plan

Alec didn’t want to leave Magnus’ apartment. He wanted to head straight out and find him but he had no idea where to even start looking. Jace and Izzy managed to convince Alec to head home with them so they could talk strategy but Alec was in the mind that the longer they spent strategising, the more chance there was of something bad happening to Magnus. 

All of the family, including Simon and Clary were sat around the dining room table. After being filled in that Clary was also a nephilim and Simon was actually a vampire, which in Alec’s mind actually made of lot of sense considering he never saw Simon ever eat properly as he claimed to always be on a ‘liquid diet’, Alec recounted what happened at the apartment. 

“So it was Valentine all along.” Jace concluded. “How are we going to stop him?” 

“I don’t know. We have nothing. We have no idea what he is planning and what he has in mind for Magnus.” Izzy answered. “Mum. You used to know Valentine, is there any information that you could help us with?” 

Alec looked at his mother wide-eyed. She knew Valentine? Maryse noticed his expression and decided to answer his unasked question. “I knew him growing up. He was always in the ideal that the nephilim was the superior race and everything else should perish. He was the strongest nephilim we knew and a lot of people followed him blindly, believing in his ideals, including your father. He was always a great leader but I ran before I got caught up in his plans.”

“Is that why you and dad aren’t together anymore?” He was told that his parents had got a divorce years ago due to falling out of love and having different ideals. He had no idea how literal those ‘different ideals’ were. 

Maryse nodded. “He has been one of Valentine’s followers for many years. I’m ashamed to say that I introduced him to Valentine in the first place. I couldn’t convince him to leave with me once I knew the darkness behind Valentine’s agendas. We never officially divorced. That was only said for your benefit once you had lost your memories.” Alec nodded. He understood why the story was created but a part of him still couldn’t believe how much of his life was fabricated once he had lost his memories to make sure he never recovered them. 

“Do you have idea where he might be hiding?” Jace asked, pressing for any information possible. 

Maryse shook her head. “We would need to look for an old building of some sort. One that no one would think to look. His hideouts were always in industrial building or abandoned buildings on the edge of the town. Somewhere out of plain sight.”

“Well, first off, we need to gear up.” Izzy turned to look at Alec. “Come with me Alec. I know where all of your old weapons are.” Izzy stood up, holding a hand out to Alec gesturing for him to follow her. Despite all of the questions in his head, he stood up and followed Izzy out into the hallway, stopping at the cloakroom at the bottom of the stairs. Alec couldn’t help but chuckle slightly earning a quizzical look from Izzy. 

Alec shook his head. “It’s nothing. I- I once saw Jace coming back from somewhere and placing something that looked like a sword in this cupboard. I tried to look for it when no one around but I couldn’t find anything.” 

Izzy sighed as she opened the door. “You wouldn’t find anything. Your mind would have glamoured anything that the angel wouldn’t want you to see anymore. We keep our weapons cache in here. That was why you would have seen Jace putting his blade in here.” Reaching past the coats and shoes at the front of the cupboard, she opened the lid to a large wooden box that Alec had never seen before at the back. Looking in the box, all Alec could see was weapons. Multiple blades, bows, arrows, and small knifes littered the box in neat rows. Pulling out a black leather holster to Alec, he took it and immediately started to place it around his waist, something inside of himself knowing exactly how to fit it comfortable onto his body. Next came a metal bow covered in runes and a quiver filled with metallic arrows. Finally, she held a long blade in her hand. The blade glowed a soft white as soon as she touched it. She held it out towards Alec who halted nervously, not sure what will happen once he touched it. 

“It’s okay to touch it. The white glow is the reaction to our nephilim blood.” She explained thrusting the blade towards Alec once more. Nervously, he grabbed the blade which instinctively turned a bright white at his touch. Grabbing the handle, he felt a familiar power course through him into the blade. It felt remarkable, like he was more….powerful. He swung the blade slowly around in circles around him, getting used to the feel of the blade in his hand. It felt familiar, like old training from years ago was coming back to him in pieces. He placed the blade into it’s sheath and attached it to his holster, along with the bow and the quiver on his back. Feeling the now familiar weight on his back, he felt ready to fight anything that came his way.

Walking back into the dining room, he noticed that everyone else had geared up as well. It left Alec feeling nervous. These guys were trained fighters and apparently so was he. He just hoped that he knew how to use the weapons properly once he needed to. He thought about Magnus, wondering how he was, wherever he was. He had no idea what condition they would find him in when the time came, if they ever found him again. In a now familiar nervous tick, he started to play with the bracelet Magnus had gifted him on the day they snuck into the museum. It gave him a little bit of comfort, like Magnus was still there with him. For that reason, and for sentimentality, he never took it off. Jace noticed Alec playing with the bracelet and looked at him quizzically. 

“New jewellery?” Jace asked. “How come I have never seen that before?” 

Alec looked down at the bracelet, rubbing a thumb over the light blue circular gem. “It’s a present from Magnus.” 

Maryse and Izzy looked at it, their eyes softening. He could tell that they secretly wanted to coo at the gesture but they didn’t want to say it out loud. Jace looked again at the gem noticing the colour. “Is Magnus’ magic blue by any chance?” 

Alec wondered the relevance to this but answered anyway, thinking back to what he had seen at Magnus’ apartment. “I think so why?” 

Jace’s eyes widened with an emerging grin. “That’s not a gem Alec. That’s a bit of Magnus’ magic in that bracelet! Magnus you genius! Alec quick, give me your bracelet. We can track him using it.” Not knowing what to make of this, he took the bracelet off, revealing a faint tan line from constantly wearing it, and handed it to Jace. Jace took his stele out, ran it over a rune which Alec now recognised as a tracking rune and covered the bracelet in both of his hands. He closed his eyes as a soft orange glow swirled around his hand. Everyone was silent around Jace as he moved his head as if he was searching for Magnus through his thoughts. A very tense minute later, Jace opened his eyes, a shocked expression on his face. 

“I’ve got him! He’s in the town square. But the signal is faint. It’s almost like… it’s not really him there.” Jace looked at Alec sadly and handed the bracelet back, Alec placing it back onto his wrist. “We need to get to him quick. I think something has happened to him that we are not going to like. I got a sense of very dark magic when I found Magnus.” 

Maryse nodded her head as she pulled out her phone. “Then we had better go now. I’ll call for backup on the way” 

“There are others like us here?” Alec asked surprised. 

“More than you know.” Maryse confirmed smiling.

“I'll call my clan. They will get in touch with the werewolves and warlocks. They will be able to help us too.” Simon piped up pulling his phone to his ear.

“Wait. Where is Max? It’s not safe for him to be out right now.” Alec asked worried

“Max is with Madzie at her place. They are safe don’t worry.” Maryse answered. Alec nodded in acceptance. 

Immediately, Jace, Izzy, Simon, Clary, Alec and Maryse left the house and ran towards the town square. As the sound of multiple shoes hitting the dirt road filled the street, Alec only thought one thing. 

“I’m coming to save you Magnus.”


	17. chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Battle ensues

The group arrived at the town square in minutes, the urgency making them run faster than they were expecting to. What met them was pure carnage. The sky has shifted to a dark red, with clouds covering over the skies, thunder and lightning raining from them. Cars and street lamps were destroyed, civilians were running away from the square screaming in horror and panic as masses of tall, dark, horned demons littered the square. Nobody knew where to look first, but Alec’s first priority was to find Magnus. He had to know that he was safe. Something in his gut told him otherwise though. After fighting through the crowds running in the opposite direction to them, the groups dispersed. Izzy and Simon to the left and Maryse, Clary and Jace to his right. The sound of swords swinging, Izzy’s whip cracking and screams from the defeated demons encompassed the square. 

But none of that mattered to Alec. All he could see was the one familiar figure, standing with his back to him, the grass surrounding him burnt at his feet. Dressed in the same clothes as from when he was taken, Alec noticed Magnus was standing in the middle of the square, his arms raised out to his sides, with red and orange magic pouring from his upturned hands. Alec paused, frozen in place in a mixture of fear and being unsure on how to approach Magnus. His fight or flight instincts were kicking in hard, unsure of whether to run away or to approach Magnus. Would he have to fight him? Was Magnus even in his right mind right now? Magnus’ magic was blue not red and orange. Jace was right. Something had happened to Magnus and he had no idea what. In front of Magnus was a large open vortex in the same red and orange colour as the magic, multiple demons crawling out of the hole in the ground in quick succession. Alec knew it was a stupid idea but maybe if he got Magnus’ attention then the magic might stop pouring from his hands and the vortex would shut? 

But before Alec could take a step forward, a voice rang in his head. _“Stop!” _The booming voice shouted halting Alec in his tracks. Alec didn’t know what to do. Did he just hear someone shouting in his head? Was he going crazy from the carnage around him? _“You are not powerful enough to confront him.” _____

____Something in Alec’s mind clicked. The voice sounded like the man who had approached him in his dream when he passed out. “Michael?”_ _ _ _

____The voice answered with a smirk. _“It seems you remember me?” _____ _ _

______“How are you in my head?” Alec asked, unsure of whether he really wanted to know the answer or not. He didn’t have time for this. Magnus was in trouble._ _ _ _ _ _

_______“I’ve always be here inside of you Alexander. Do you remember when I said that I needed to break my promise to you and you needed to remember? I have sifted through your memories and I know that your family have told you of your true purpose. I need you to fulfill it again.” _Alec turned in shock to look around the battlefield as if to find the answer he was looking for. All of his family members were fighting a never ending horde of demons. It seemed like other people had started to join the battle as well. Some were fighting with his family against the demons, while other nephilim had joined to fight against them. _"That man infront of you is not your boyfriend Alexander. He is possessed by my brother Lucifer who wants to rule the earth plane for himself. He needs to be stopped. I can only do that if you allow me to take over again and fight him.___ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Alec’s eyes widened. “I have to kill Magnus?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________”Hopefully not. There is a way for the possession to be halted. But only I know how to do that. Are you going to help me? You have all the power you need. All of the knowledge you previously had is still inside of you. Once I take over your body it will come back to you.” _Michael explained.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“If I let you, do you have to take my memories again?” Alec asked unsure._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________” That decision has always been yours alone to make. I can not take your memories from you without your consent. You were a young boy when this happened the last time, your mind couldn’t handle it. Now you are older and much more wiser, only you will know for sure if you can handle the memories for yourself.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Alec nodded in understanding. He took a deep breath, surveying his surroundings, watching multiple bodies falling at a rapid rate around his feet until his eyes laid on Magnus, his back still to him showing no signs of stopping the magic from flowing through his hands. Alec considered his options. If he agreed to letting Michael take over his body, they stood a chance of getting rid of Lucifer and saving Magnus. He didn’t dare try to think of the alternative. “If this is the only way to save Magnus and rid Lucifer for good then we have to try.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________”As long as you are sure. You have to be willing to fully accept me otherwise this will not work. You need to close your eyes and say outloud ‘I accept you Archangel Michael to serve my purpose for the nephilim.’”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Nervously, Alec mustered all of his courage and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, focusing on the fact that he needed to save Magnus and chanted loudly. “I accept you Archangel Michael to serve my purpose for the nephilim”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________The world around Alec turned white, his eyes rolling into the back of his head, his irises returning to their normal position a moment later a bright gold colour. He felt himself growing smaller and in on himself as warmth surrounded his body. He cried out as pain emanated from his shoulders feeling two large perfectly formed white wings protrude from his back. He opened his eyes, but it was hazy. It was like watching a scene from someone else’s point of view. In a way he was right. Michael had taken over. Alec was purely a vessel now, to watch as the angel used his body to defeat the evil in front of them. Alec watched as Michael walked his body towards Magnus, halting when the familiar view of Alec’s Father, his clothing covered in blood, came into view._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Alexander. What are you doing here? You need to run away now. This is not a place for you.” His Father sounded worried, trying to move Alec until he stilled in shock, noticing his golden eyes and spreading white wings. “You? How has this happened? You promised that my son would never know of this world again.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“Alexander gave his body willingly. He knows the risks like he did before. Move aside nephilim.” _Michael answered, his booming voice replacing Alec’s.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Robert shook his head and took a low stance, his sword in front of him ready for a battle. “I can’t let you do that. Valentine is so close to finishing his mission and soon we will have fulfilled our purpose on this earth.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Alec looked on in shock. His Mother had told Alec that his Father had sided with Valentine, but he had hoped that he would never have to meet him again, especially like this. _”I’m sorry Alexander.” _Michael said to Alec internally _“I know he is your Father but right now, he is the enemy. He has sided with Lucifer and Valentine and is stopping us from reaching your lover and saving him. He needs to be disposed of.”____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Before Alec could protest, Maryse ran across Alec’s view, sword high, clashing with Roberts. Alec watched as his Mother and Father fought. It looked beautiful, like a deadly dance where only one of them will survive. In a way it came as no surprise to Alec. They grew up together, they would have trained together, they were married. It’s no wonder that they were both instep with each other, knowing each other’s faults and catching every blow of their swords. The clashing stopped for a moment for them both to catch their breath, circling each other as they did, sizing each other up. Maryse took one quick glance at Alec and gasped, knowing what had happened to him. Her face frowned, not wanting this for her son but she knew it had to be done. The moment was fleeting as Maryse’s face hardened again and she continued to size Robert up. “Michael. I have unfinished business with my husband. Leave Robert to me, he’s mine. Save Magnus and please take care of my boy. If I don’t make it please tell him that I love him and I will see him in the heavens.” With that, Maryse lunged forward, her sword stretch outwards towards Robert’s stomach. He caught the move and they continued their spar. Alec was internally crying and screaming for his Mother, shouting that he loved her too and to not die on him. She had been his rock when his memories were wiped the first time, he was going to need her again once this was all over._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Alec’s view turned away from the fight and headed again towards Magnus who still had not moved. Alec’s heart lurched at the idea that it may be too late to save him but he was still willing to try anything to get him back. Michael’s enhanced hearing picked up the sound of metal swinging by his ear. Michael turned around, his back to Magnus now as he saw another man, his sword raised high, ready to strike again. He was tall, bald with light stubble along his jaw. His black clothes were torn but he looked like he was triumphant, his smug expression exuding how he currently felt. It was no question to Alec who this was. It was Valentine. The man who started all of this and got his men to capture Magnus. He seethed internally as his outer composure stayed calm. Alec wanted to rip himself out of his body and tear the man limb from limb personally so he could feel the pain and anger he was currently feeling. But of course, Michael would never allow that. He needed his body in tack so he could take down Lucifer. Alec could tell that in Michael’s eyes, Valentine was just a pawn. A thing to get out of the way before he could finish his mission. Alec could hear Michael’s thoughts, about how he was planning to take down Valentine in the quickest way possible. He knew he had the power to overthrow the man. He was just biding his time before he would strike._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“Alexander. What a surprise to see you here” Valentine cocked his head to the side mockingly. “Or is it Michael? I never seen to catch up with who you really are.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________” We are one and the same Nephilim.” _Michael answered, testing the grip of the handle on the sword in his hand, readying for Valentine’s attack. Michael chuckled. _“You don’t seem afraid Nephilim. You would think it would be a dream of your kind to be in the presence of an archangel.” ______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Valentine smirked. “You would think, but in all honesty, seeing you here was never a part of my plan. Oh well, it would be too easy without a little bit of a challenge.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________________”You are a fool to have allied yourself with Lucifer. The world you want will crash and burn before you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Valentine chuckled. “Well it would seem your information is wrong. I am raising Lucifer so I can kill him myself. Then I would be revered as the nephilim who defeated Lucifer once and for all.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Michael shook his head. _”You’re a fool if you think you can go up against Lucifer by yourself. If my guesses are correct he has possessed that warlock over there.” _Alec gasped as his eyes widened. Magnus has been possessed by Lucifer? No! That can not be true! Please tell him that is not true. If it worked like it did for Alec and Michael, wouldn’t that mean that Magnus is a descendant of Lucifer? _”That would mean that Lucifer is at his most powerful. If he felt like it, he would kill you in an instant. You have sided with the wrong person nephilim. Now stand aside so I can finish him.” _As Michael moved to head towards Magnus, Valentine raced forward and raised his sword to Michael. He caught the attack with his Alec’s sword, matching every blow Valentine gave. They danced, moving side to side catching each other’s attacks before suddenly Valentine slipped on the wet grass underneath him. Michael took his chance and swiped his sword across Valentine’s chest. The wound was deep, the sound of blood splattering the floor. Valentine dropped to one knee, his hand across his chest looking up at Michael._____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________Valentine took one more shuddering breath as he collapsed on the floor, the light leaving his eyes for good, his body forever still. Alec watched in horror. Michael, or was it him as it was his body, had just killed someone. Looking at the body of Valentine on the floor he knew that the sight would forever be in his memory. No matter how much Alec hated the idea of killing someone he knew it was going to be worth it in the long run. Valentine is dead. The threat of his existence and his reign of terror was over. Michael took one more look at Valentine before turning Alec’s body towards Magnus. He watched as the magic from Magnus’ hands stopped as he turned around to see Michael/Alec standing there, red eyes replacing the warm brown that Alec knew so well._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________****_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________Magnus was terrified. Lucifer had taken over his body, his consciousness trapped inside of himself. There was nothing he could do. He was a vessel, a puppet, made to watch Lucifer’s reign of terror over the town he had grown to love. Lucifer had been using his magic to open rifts over the town, his demon minions and nephilim who had sided with him had rained in and invaded the town in a matter of minutes. All he could do was watch as Lucifer had his arms raised in the air syphoning his magic. It reminded him of the painting he had snuck in to see with Alexander at the museum. The image was like a direct copy of the painting. Suddenly Lucifer stopped. He felt a pull of angelic magic from behind him. He had noticed nephilim, vampires and werewolves coming to the town square to try and fight off Lucifer’s army but he had never felt a pull like this. Lucifer turned his body around to meet the angelic power behind him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________He was not prepared for the majestic site in front of him. His Alexander. The love of his life was standing there proudly, back straight and clutching a blade in his left hand. What was he doing here? Did he really think he had a chance against Lucifer? He stilled. There was something different about him. Then he noticed the white wings pulling out from behind him and Alexander’s eyes. Those eyes that he loved so much had changed to a beautiful golden colour. He looked like an angel personified. Alexander didn’t move an inch when he saw Magnus’ face. He was expecting some form of a reaction. Disappointment? Shock? Anything! But instead he just stood in front of Magnus stoically, clutching the hilt of his sword tightly, ready to fight._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________Lucifer chuckled mockingly. _“Michael” _Magnus stilled. Michael? What was he talking about? This was Alexander in front of him. Even if he was dressed a little strangely, he would know this man anywhere. The name however reminded him of something in his head, of what he wasn’t sure.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________________________”Lucifer” _Alec answered calmly, a deep majestic voice booming out of Alexander’s mouth that sounded nothing like his.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________________________”I see you have taken the boy again. Surely the boy would have said no to you after what happened six years ago.” _Six years ago? What did Lucifer mean by ’taking Alexander’?__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________________________”Alexander gave his body willingly. I would never force it. Did you get consent from your own host?” _Michael asked. Magnus’ eyes widened. Looking again at the wings and the golden eyes it suddenly clicked in his head. This is THE archangel Michael? From the painting he and Alexander saw months ago! He had never been able to find out how Michael managed to survive on the Earth plane. Now he knew. He took over a nephilim body. What were the odds that it would be Alexander? Hope began to rise in his heart, maybe there was a chance that Lucifer could be defeated after all. He has done it before right? Hopefully he would be able to do it again!__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________________________”Unlike you Michael, I don’t need to ask for permission. This man is my grandson. I have a right to do with him as I please.” _Michael’s eyes twitched.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________________________________”Brother, I know that you are known as the devil for many reasons but taking a boy’s life force and body unwillingly is not what we stand for! If he fights within you then you will fail.” _Magnus smiled. Michel had given him the answer to help defeat Lucifer. Now how can he do it?__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________________________Lucifer chuckled ominously. _”You fool. The child can not do anything. I have locked him in his subconsciousness, like you have with your host. He is trapped until I am finished with his magic. He is the most powerful warlock I have ever met. For thousands of years you have bested me with the help of your little nephilim host and now I have used your own strategy against you. For once, I have the upper hand here brother. I am more powerful than you! You can not defeat me! You and all of the nephilim, including your host will die today!” _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________________Magnus screamed as images of Alexander fallen on the floor, dead and covered in blood that Magnus’s body had shed, filled his mind. Whether Lucifer was feeding him these images to taunt him or not he did not know. Either way, there was no way that he could stand in the background and let this happen. Inwardly, he knew that there was only one thing he could do. He had to exhaust himself and rid himself of his magic. That way, Lucifer couldn’t use it anymore and he would be powerless. The only downside to this would be that there was a terribly high risk of him dying in the process. Lucifer, as a fallen angel, only had Magnus’ magic tying him to this world and his body. Magic to warlocks was like a life force, use it up and the body shuts down. Despite this, he knew that this was a risk that he had to take. He would stop at nothing to make sure that he could help win against Lucifer._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________________Just like that, the conversation was done. Magnus felt Lucifer reach within himself, tapping into Magnus’ never ending source of magic which curled into translucent balls in his hands, throwing them one after the other at Michael who leaped and ducked to get out of the way of the onslaught._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________________There was no way Michael could do a close attack, Alec figured. There was too much magic flying their way. Despite the horrific situation he was in, he couldn’t help but marvel at the magic. Magnus was indeed very powerful. He only hoped that his magic could only last for so long. Michael, realising this too, decided to go for an aerial approach. Spreading his wings wide, he knelt down and leaped into the sky, his wings flapping widely to stay in the air, circling Lucifer who continued to throw magic in their direction. That was when Alec felt something on his back. His bow and quiver! He didn’t need to get close for those. Michael heard his thoughts and sheathed the sword to his side. Grabbing two arrows, he nocked one, leaving one just above the other for a quick redraw. Michael shot the arrow towards Lucifer, narrowly missing his left shoulder by an inch. Groaning in frustration Michel quickly nocked the second arrow. Alec remembered from experience that aiming an arrow while in motion was always difficult. Michael needed to stay still if he wanted to aim properly. For a millisecond, Michael paused and aimed the arrow. On the second release, the arrow flew true and struck Lucifer in the shoulder, momentarily blind sighting him, thus giving Michael an open opportunity to attack._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________________Taking the chance, Michael swooped down, grabbing the sword again with his left hand. Alec could only watch as Michael flew over the hordes of people still fighting below them. His stomach dropped as Michael dove down, straight towards Lucifer who was clutching his shoulder in pain. _”The perks of a mortal body” _Michael quipped before taking the sword and thrusting it into Lucifer’s chest. Alec screamed in agony as he watched Magnus’ body splutter blood out of it’s mouth, his own body touching Magnus’ like a soft embrace. Lucifer’s breathing shuddered as he tried to stay alive, the sword staying in his chest.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________________________________”This ends here now brother” _Michael whispered to Lucifer. _”Expel your magic Magnus! I know you can hear me.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________________________________________”No!” _Lucifer screamed in response as his face went white, blue light expelling from his hands at an alarming rate. _”My magic! No, this can not be happening!” ______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________________________________The blue light slowed as Lucifer’s screams died. He looked up into the sky as Lucifer’s red eyes dim to Magnus’ usual brown colour. Magnus’ body collapses on the floor, the embedded sword falling away from his chest. His eyes shut as his breath shudders, his body convulsing. Magnus was fighting against Lucifer, Alec realised as he watches Magnus’ mouth open, a jet black smoke releasing itself into the air and forming a smokey body next to Magnus’ unconscious body on the floor. Before the smoke is able to solidify, Michael swipes one more time across Lucifer’s body across his throat and strikes into Lucifer’s heart again. The smokey image shook violently and disappeared from view._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________________________________Panting heavily, Michael speaks to Alec internally. _”It is done. You have completed your mission once again Alexander. Thank you for your service.” _Alec didn’t have enough time to recover as he feels Michael fade away, collapsing to the floor as all of his senses reappear in full force. But nothing seems to matter anymore apart from the fallen body on the floor. Alec, now with full control over his own body again, scrambled on the floor over to Magnus’ body. Running his hands everywhere that he can reach, he checks for any sign of life, breathing a big sigh of relief when he feels a slow but barely there pulse. Magnus is still alive.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________________________________Alec caresses a hand over Magnus’ face, trying to keep to memory every little bit of his face. “It’s okay Magnus. You’re safe. He’s gone.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________________________________Alec’s eyes widen as he watches Magnus open his eyes slightly, his breathing shuddering heavily. “Ale…xander”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________________________________Alec shushes him, fighting the tears in his eyes. “Save your strength. You’re going to be okay. He’s gone.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________________________________“I…lo..you” Magnus whispers as his eyes roll into the back of his head collapsing once more, safely cradled in Alec’s arms._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	18. chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be an epilogue to follow but I don't think I will be able to upload it today.

Alec was not sure when he passed out. Opening his eyes to a bright white tiled ceiling, the smell of bleach and low beeping from close by monitors engulfs his senses. Closing his eyes to try and recollect himself, memories race back to him. The fight, the sight of Magnus possessed by Lucifer, the smell of blood everywhere all come rushing back in the form of a movie he would rather not watch again. 

Opening his eyes again, he is met once again to the same bright white tiled ceiling. He groaned at the feeling of his body fighting against him to fall back asleep, but he knew he couldn’t. He had gathered that he was in a hospital from the sounds of the machines but he had to find Magnus. He needed to know that he was okay, the image of Magnus with a chest wound stuck in his head. The sound of a second machine beeping in the background is brought to Alec’s attention. Cursing his aching body as he turns his head to the right slightly, he sees another bed with the love of his life lying on it. The sight was something that would stick in Alec’s memory for life. 

Magnus was lying on the bed topless with a large bandage across his chest and a blanket that pooled around his waist. He was hooked up to a breathing apparatus that covered his mouth feeding him well needed oxygen and multiple IV’s sticking into his arms. Tears pooled in Alec’s eyes at the sight in both relief and shock. Magnus was okay. He is alive, someone managed to save him! 

He sat there staring at Magnus for a while, barely noticing when a door opened and a nurse came in, carrying a chart. She was a small woman, no more than 5’ 6”, her black hair messily tied up in a bun with a fabric headband covering her fringe. She walked over to Magnus and placed a hand on his lovingly and smiled softly. She must know Magnus to be that soft with him. She looked up to check on Alec and smiled as she noticed he was awake. 

“Good morning. How are you feeling?” She asked, her voice sounding low and comforting. 

Alec cleared his throat before answering. “Tired…and sore.” 

She smiled softly. “Well that is to be expected. Excuse the pun but you have just been through a hell of a time.” She walked over to the other side of room, filled a glass with water and placed it on the side of Alec’s bed. “Sip slowly. Would you like to sit up?” 

Alec nodded slowly as she pressed a button on the side of the hospital bed, making the top end of the bed rise until Alec was comfortable. “Is Magnus okay?” He asked, afraid of what she might say. 

“He will pull through. I had to use my magic to restart his heart, but he will make a full recovery.” She answered, looking over at Magnus warmly. 

Use her magic? “You’re a warlock?” Alec concluded. She nodded in response. “I am. My name is Catarina and Magnus is one of my best friends. Don’t worry. No one here knows what you and Magnus are, if that is what you are worried about.” 

Alec nodded in response. “How long was I out for?” 

“You two have been here for 3 days. We were wondering when you were going to wake up to be honest, but I guess being possessed by an angel will take it out on you.” Catarina chuckled at her joke. 

“You know what happened?” Alec asked shocked that she knew so much. 

“I was there on the battlefield. I saw your fight against Lucifer and as soon as you both collapsed, I ran over to help you both.” 

“But.. what happened after we passed out? Are my family okay?” He asked worried that something may have happened. 

“They are all okay. You have nothing to worry about. Your family and everyone that came to help them sent the rest of the demons back to hell. The official report said that your battle was a large gang fight but.. I have a feeling that is not going to fool everyone for long.” 

“What about my Father, and Valentine?” 

“From what I heard, your Father is now in a nephilim prison to be trialed accordingly along with others who had sided with Valentine. You have nothing to worry about anymore. I can assure you, you both are safe.” The nurse answered reassuringly. “Your family are here, waiting for you to wake up. They have not left the hospital since you got admitted. Are you up for seeing them?” 

Alec’s eyes widen with excitement and nodded. “Okay. I’ll bring them through, but if it gets too much, tell them to go home. There is only so much vending machine food they can eat.” Catarina jokes making Alec chuckle as she leaves the room. Only the sound of the beeping from the machines keeping Magnus breathing fills the room while Alec waits for his family to arrive.

Minutes later, Alec is met with the sight of Jace, Izzy and his mother walking into the room, the relief that he is okay plastered on their faces. Jace is the first to meet Alec at his side, placing his hand on his shoulder. “Good to see you up Alec. You had us all worried there for a minute. How are you feeling?” 

Alec nods slowly. “I’m okay. I’m worried about Magnus though.” 

Izzy smiles. “That’s understandable. You both went through possession and fought each other. That must have been awful.” 

Alec purses his lips, trying to find the right words. “It’s not exactly top ten of my favourite moments in my life. It was… strange. I knew what was going on but I had no control over my body. I had to watch Michael stab Mag-“ Alec stopped mid sentence, his eyes welling up and his throat closing at the thought.” 

“That’s awful. But remember, Magnus and you are safe now. Lucifer is gone and everyone who sided with him have been dealt with respectfully.” 

Alec nods in understanding, looking to Magnus who was still fighting for his life. “Why won’t he wake up?” He asked quietly. Izzy walked over to the other side of Alec’s bed and hugged him gently. 

“Since the blade went through his heart, they had to put Magnus into an induced coma so that he can repair himself. The doctors and Catarina have done everything they can to fix him but it’s now up to him to wake up. He will wake up when he is ready.” Maryse explained. 

Alec shook his head, trying to stop the tears in his eyes from falling. “It’s not fair.” He chocked out, guilt sitting heavily on his chest. “He was brought into this mess because of me.” 

“To be honest, I have a feeling he would have been involved whether you were the chosen one of Michael of not. You need to not put that pressure on yourself.” Maryse answered softly, picking her words carefully. She understood how Alec felt but she knew he would blame himself for everything that happened. It wasn’t his fault that Valentine decided to resurrect Lucifer for such a ridiculous plan.

“I know.” Alec answered solemnly. “I just don’t like seeing him here attached to these tubes.” 

Jace’s hand on his shoulder tightened in sympathy. “Don’t worry Alec. Magnus is strong. He is going to pull through.” 

Alec nodded as he looked at Magnus again breathing softly. “I know”. In his heart he knew he believed it. 

After one more day in hospital, Catarina was happy to dispatch him now that his vitals had improved. But Alec refused to leave the hospital. As much as he hated the smell of bleach and the quietness of the room, he didn’t want to leave Magnus alone. He wanted to be there when he woke up. For two more days, Alec sat at Magnus’ bedside. He read to him, reminisced about their times together and slept with his head on the bed, his hand holding Magnus’ hand that was free of needles. 

On the first night, Alec dreamt that he was back in the battlefield. The memories of the bodies, the blood and deep red sky above him. He was stood in the centre of the town square. He was alone, his sword in his hand, panting. It was over. It was finally over. He looked around him but he couldn’t see anyone that he recognised. Magnus wasn’t on the floor like he expected him to be, his family were not around him. He felt alone for the first time in years. 

_”Alexander" Alec turned around to see a majestical form in front of him. It was Michael, dressed in battle gear._

_“Why am I here?” Alec asked. This must be a dream, the last thing he remembered was being in the hospital with Magnus._

_“I had to speak to you once more” Michael explained. “Six years ago, you had made the decision to forget the memories of this event. Now that you are healed, it is time for you to make your decision again. Do you choose to stay a nephilim and remember everything that has happened? Or do you choose to forget?”_

_Alec frowned. Of all of the things he expected Michael to say, it was not this. He had oddly forgotten about the memory loss since he was admitted to hospital, but now that he was standing in front of Michael again, he knew he had to answer this important question, but not without questions of his own._

_“What happened to Lucifer?”_

_Michael smiled, the signs of crows feet beaming at the side of his eyes. “It is done. Lucifer is defeated once more and I can assure you he will never return. The angels and I have seen to it.”_

_“He is gone?” Alec asked shocked._

_Michael nodded. “For good. You will never have to see him again.”_

_A heavy weight that Alec didn’t realise he felt on his shoulders suddenly lifted. He was free. He no longer had to bare this burden anymore. Magnus was safe. He was safe. He could live his life again._

_But he knew he had a difficult decision to make. “What would happen to me if I said yes?” He asked, knowing Michael knew what he meant._

_“The same as before. You would lose your memories of the life you knew as a nephilim. Your memories of you and your love would remain in tact up until you discovered who you were.”_

_Alec nodded in understanding, but a part of him hated the idea of losing himself again. The last time, he was 18 years old. He was barely an adult and couldn’t handle the idea of what went bump in the night. This time, he was much older. He had lived life, had life lessons that he had learnt and a much stronger back bone as a result. Inwardly, he felt the power inside of him. The nephilim power that he had once left behind for the sake of an easier life soared within him. But did he want of be rid of it now? Honestly, Alec leant towards saying no. He liked the idea of being this other person, who he was meant to be all along. He had felt like something was missing for six years and now he finally knew what he was, he didn’t want to let it go._

_Michael smiled. “It seems like you have made your mind up once again.”_

_Alec smirked. “You always knew what I thought didn’t you?”_

_Michael nodded matching Alec’s smirk. “I am a part of you. You are a part of me. We will always be connected in one way or another.”_

_“You know…. I thought I knew what my life was. But the world I thought I knew has changed so dramatically that I couldn’t keep up. But I like it. I don’t want to forget. I finally feel whole for the first time in years.”_

_Michael nodded. “Understood Alexander. Remember, I will always be a part of you. You carry my blood in your system so don’t put it to waste and I hope you carry on the work of the nephilim. Let’s hope that we will not meet in such dreadful circumstances next time.”_

_Alec nodded. “Thank you Michael. For giving me my life back.”_

__The sun was setting on the second day when Alec had reached breaking point. It had almost been a week since Magnus fell unconscious and he was desperate to see Magnus’ eyes, hear his laugh, anything at this point would be a blessing. The day before, Catarina took Magnus off the ventilation noticing that he could breathe on his own just fine. That was a positive note so far for Alec, it meant Magnus was getting better, little by little. Alec took Magnus’ hand in his, the feel of the low pulse in his wrist, calming him._ _

__“Please wake up” Alec pleaded softly. “Magnus, please wake up. I’m here, you’re safe now. Lucifer is gone. Please. I don’t think I can live without you” Alec stood up, Magnus’ hand still in his and leant forward, placing a soft kiss on Magnus’ lips and rested his forehead on Magnus’. “I love you Magnus. So much.”_ _

__Alec paused as he felt a slight twitch from Magnus’ hand that was in his. His eyes snapped down to the hand, noticing another small twitch from Magnus’ finger. Alec didn’t falter. He immediately hit the button on the side of the wall calling the nurse’s attention. Catarina was quick to respond, looking at Alec alarmed._ _

__“What’s wrong?” She asked panicked._ _

__“His hand. I felt a twitch. I think he is waking up” Alec answered delighted, tears starting to form in his eyes._ _

__A soft groan brought their attention back to the man in the bed. They both watch with fascination as Magnus grimaced, his eyes and nose scrunched together before he gently cracked his eyes gently open._ _

__Alec and Catarina both gasped at the sight. Magnus was waking up! He was okay! “Magnus. Can you hear me? It’s Alec, you’re okay.”_ _

__Magnus blinked his eyes a few times before he opened his eyes fully to the room, his eyes landing on Alec. “Ale..der” His voice croaked out._ _

__Tears be damned, Alec placed a hand softly on Magnus’ cheek, his thumb running back and forth in a soft caress. “Yes. I’m here.” He answered brightly._ _

__“You did it.” Magnus smiled “You saved me”_ _

__Alec could’t hold it in any longer. He leant forward and pressed a soft kiss against Magnus’ lips, the man returning in kind. Alec placed his forehead on Magnus’. “I will always save you.”_ _


	19. chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading this!
> 
> Thank you so much for all of your comments and kudos, they have meant the world to me and kept me going! I have so many more ideas of stories to share with you and I hope you take a look at some of the other malec fics I have written. 
> 
> Love to all  
> Stay safe!

2 years later. 

Alec was completely out of his comfort zone. Stood behind a big screen at the back of his mother’s bookshop, he ran his hands through his hair multiple times in frustration. How could he be so nervous? He has battled demons, been possessed by an all powerful arch angel and helped defeat the devil himself…twice! How could he be nervous of a few hundred people waiting for him to come out and hear him talk? Even presenting his thesis paper to the deans of the university was not this nerve-racking. 

“Stop running your hands through your hair. I’ve just fixed it.” Magnus called from behind him, lifting his hands up to fix his hair. “You’re going to be fine.” 

“But… how do you know? What if I’m not able to say anything? What if I say the wrong thing?” Alec argued. 

“It’s going to be fine Alec” Jace said next to him, his hand in Clary’s. “Just read what you have on your notecards and it will be fine.” 

“Jace is right. You’re going to be fine. You’re a New York Times bestseller! This is an exciting moment for you.” Clary answered placing a hand on Alec’s arm in comfort. 

Alec shuffled his feet trying to gather his nerves. “I know. I know I’ve dealt with so much worse. I just… didn’t think that it would be this popular.” 

Jace chuckled. “You wrote something that people enjoy! This is much better than your dreary thesis. Then again it’s not their fault that the story of your book actually happened and you happened to write it down as a fantasy book.” 

Before Alec could reply, they all turned their heads to the sound of a loud applause. Alec took a deep breath as Magnus placed his hands on Alec’s chest and gave him a kiss. “Go get them nephilim. You will be fine. We will get through this, go back to our apartment, get changed and then go for dinner later to celebrate.” The thought made Alec smile. Not long after Magnus was allowed to go home from the hospital, Alec and Magnus decided that they didn’t want to be away from each other anymore so Magnus asked Alec to move in with him. Of course Alec accepted on the spot and despite the small domestic arguments they had on a regular basis, life had never been so great for Alec. He loved living in his own place with his boyfriend. It made him feel complete. 

Alec beamed as he nodded, turned around and walked towards the stage. The crowd screamed and applauded louder as he made his way to the barstool sitting on the stage facing the audience, sitting down next to a blond woman in a navy blue pantsuit. Alec noticed to his side that Jace, Clary and Magnus had joined Maryse, Max, Madzie, Simon and Izzy at the back of the book shop to get the best view, Izzy engagement ring sitting boldly on her left ring finger, the light shining on it making it stand out more. 

“Thank you for joining us today to promote Alexander Lightwood’s book ‘The World I Thought I knew’. Alec is here today to read to you the first chapter of his book and then we will move along to some questions.” The woman explained, turning her face to Alec to signal him. Alec stood up and walked towards the podium in the middle of the stage. His book was sitting already open on the first page of the first chapter, ready for him to read. 

He looked out into the audience, the bright lights beaming onto the stage blinding him slightly, reminding him of the first time he saw Michael in his dreams. He shook his head slightly to rid himself of the memory and looked past the lights to the back of the room, looking at Magnus, a proud smile beaming from his face. When Alec approached Magnus with the idea of writing out what happened to them in the form of a story, he was a little perplexed and unsure. He was concerned that the subject matter was too close to regular mundanes finding out about the paranormal world, but Alec reassured him that he would embellish it enough that it sounded more of a fantasy novel than real life (if he could call it real life). Magnus agreed in the end and after 8 months of focusing on writing his novel, it got picked up by a local publisher and Alec’s life changed for the better. The book was an instant hit, his publisher immediately signing him on for 2 more books in the series. He laughed inwardly when he signed the contract, he guessed that he would need to go out on more adventures with Jace and Izzy to get inspiration. 

Despite being an author, Alec had fully embraced his life back as a nephilim. He would do nightly patrols, honing his hunting skills at night and then write during the day. It was an odd way to live, but Magnus and Alec couldn’t be happier. Alec had embraced this new life of the nephilim, warlocks, vampires and werewolves with full gusto, earning himself a reputation for being one of the best nephilim fighters in the area. 

With a nod from Magnus in support, Alec took a deep breath, straightened out his suit jacket, secretly feeling for the small jewellery box in the top corner pocket, which he was very glad Magnus hadn’t felt when he had helped Alec be presentable this morning, and faced down to start reading, all the while hiding his bout of excitement for the night ahead. 

“Silence surrounded the town as bodies made up of demons and humans littered the floor. There was blood splattered everywhere, the red sky slowly dying out, being replaced with the soft orange and blues of dawn……”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little trivia of this fic: 
> 
> \- Seelies are not mentioned in this fic because I didn't feel the need for them to be a part of this. 
> 
> \- The last line of this story is actually the first line in the first chapter ;)


End file.
